IS Virus: Episode 2-10 - EXPOSURE
by tonbonkittybon
Summary: It couldn't be any more problematic for Phantom Task. The lead man has upped and done his own thing, bringing on an agent with a hidden agenda, and attempting to expose torture happening to his crew to save them(?). With mere hours before the election, can he rally at least some people behind his cause, or is this the final straw?
1. They Have To Know

_Infinite Stratos Virus: Episode 10 - Exposure **[SEASON 2 FINALE]**_

 _Part 1: They Have To Know_

 **-TWO DAYS TO ELECTION-**

The entire country was on edge. The presence of the renegade was one thing, but the repeated failure to do so much as a poke to any part of him, or anyone from Phantom Task, was certainly going to weigh in people's minds come Election Night. But it's two days off; anything could happen. And that's exactly the case with Chifuyu, who was originally sent to intercept the renegade, but was unceremoniously (and unofficially) given the ban. She ended up tagging along with Sean just to see how the renegade became the fear-inducing people-eater, and whether or not her vengeance was truly warranted.

 **-NAVY WELLS PARK, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY; 18:47-**

And she just spend a straight twelve hours interviewing various folks and rearranging damming pieces of information to fit the narratives that she felt would fit the message that Sean would try to deliver, "I am so glad my family doesn't do news..."

"Well, anyone who does news knows that you need at least some form of a periodic sleep schedule," the writer commented while scribbling away at his notepad, "You didn't even nap since you ran into us."

"Oh, bugger off..." she rubbed her eyes.

While the script outline was being put together, Sean was rehearsing his final words for the renegade and the nation. In those words, despite all the information he planned to put out, he also planned to call for the election results to be discounted and invalidated due to Phantom Task's ungodly influence on the public minds, "Don't get me wrong. I do see that the truth will get out one way or another. But do you see how they're doing it? Causing protests and counter protests to collide with each other, directly infiltrating political offices-I mean, with the reach of influence Phantom Task has been able to tap into, there's no possible way that this election can be valid, whatever the outcome." The instant he finished that sentence, he had a small laughing fit, "Hahah...oh god, they're gonna dog me for that..."

"Are you worried about everyone at Fox?" The cameraman asked.

"Heh, that's the last thing on my mind right now..." he stretched, "What are the odds I'll get by with just that one line?"

"Dunno..." the cameraman turned off the camera and packed everything into the van, "Let me drive. You need a small break."

Everyone packed inside and left for the target destination. While Chifuyu was napping away, and the editing team was preparing for the show while laughing at the ridiculousness of some of the interview segments to keep themselves awake, Sean made one last call to his wife:

"Hello, honey?"

"Sean! Oh, thank god, you're still safe!"

"Yeah, I'm here. How're the kids?"

"They're fine, just winded from the insanity of school. They got harassed and supported by everyone from teachers to students to faculty. They almost got in a fight, for Christ's sake."

"Huh?! What for?!"

"Avoiding eye contact with another student."

"What th-no. No way that ever happened."

"I'm not sure of anything right now. Everyone is in such a chaotic mood now, gotta be that renegade's fault. Is this renegade nonsense going to end anytime soon?"

"Actually, he told me he'll let me off the hook once I get this one show over with. I'm gonna be home tomorrow afternoon."

"Ok. Ok, I'll be waiting for you."

"Nothing has happened to you, right?"

"No. We're holed up in the police department."

"Good. I'll see you soon. I love you."

"Love you too, Sean."

CLICK*

Sean hung up and leaned back, "Oh, my head..."

"You ok?" The cameraman asked.

"I think so..." he joked, "Hahahaaa, oh, what are we doing?"

"I have no idea..." the cameraman just focused on the road.

Sean suddenly got another call from a familiar friend. He quickly answered, "Tucker? Tucker, is that you?"

"Hey, Sean! Where are you?! What's happened between you and the renegade?!"

"It's all gonna come to an end tonight. As soon as I get this show done, I'll be able to go back home."

"What? That easy? Can you seriously trust him?"

"He's a kid, way more immature than everyone picks him out to be. He only sees black and white, no gray whatsoever."

"And that's how you're gonna go free?"

"He hasn't gone through puberty yet, Tuck. That core inside him stunted his mental maturity."

"That's some wishful thinking, you know that?"

"I know. I just hope I make it out."

"Me too. Hey, I gotta get ready for my show now. I'll send a special shoutout to you."

"Thanks. I gotta go."

"Alright, we'll be waiting for you, man."

Sean hung up and smiled at the fact that he still had people that genuinely cared about him, unlike most other people that mentioned him in the media. But as he was reflecting, he noticed a strange app he never installed. Its icon was yellow. He knew exactly was that was, and he sought to extract it by attempting to delete that app. When he was about to confirm-

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" That yellow sprite flung out of the phone and right into Chifuyu's lap.

"Wha-huh..." Chifuyu was startled awake by a zapping sound, "What was..." she looked down and saw Silvia, peeking from her shoes.

"Please don't kill me..." Silvia whimpered.

"Had fun? Find anything interesting?" Sean demanded.

"I was out of it until I recharged!" Silvia stammered, "I don't know where anything is anymore! Where are we going?!"

"We're going near the No Name Key," Chifuyu interrupted, "That's where we should find some answers."

"Ok...where's onii-chan?"

"Who?"

"Sokoto? The renegade?"

"Lost him over in Tallahassee," Sean said, "After you yelled out some code, he stayed behind and shook as many people as he could off our trail."

"Oh no..." Silvia muttered. She went back into his cellphone to try and track Sokoto's location, then popped out after five minutes, "I can't find him! I've been inactivated until Streamline has been recharged!"

"Great," Chifuyu muttered, "What do we do now?"

"We'll just have to trust he'll be there," Silvia slumped.

"Ok...nobody panic..." Sean assured, "We'll just have to improvise. Luck out until he shows."

"That's exactly how Phantom Task has been operating until now!" Silvia screamed, "Do you think this will turn out any different?!"

Everyone pondered the meaning of that question. How were they going to make it work when their only secure point of contact was gone? This guy was the one thing keeping this operation alive. Who else has the guts to expose a dangerous cancer in today's society?

 **-HIDDEN HARBOR ROAD, FRANKLIN COUNTY; 18:55-**

Believe it or not, Daryl. After their initial departure, she and Sokoto had one hell of a time gathering supplies needed for the recon mission. While he would lead on as a distraction for most, she would slip past the cracks in their surveillance and steal everything needed to not only bring the Streamline back to full function, but also to maintain communication with the reception van. It was a game of bob-and-weave for 13 hours straight. And throughout all that, Sokoto somehow convinced her to help him out, at least until he could get Charlotte out. Of course, she wasn't satisfied with that flimsy condition and demanded a spot in Phantom Task after they escape.

Sokoto, being the world's most dangerous idiot, happily accepted the counteroffer, without questioning the true meaning behind it.

Nor did he question what exactly was in the backpack he was carrying on the way over to the port, "HAARGH...what the hell did you put in this thing..."

"Oh, just something to help recharge your IS," Daryl said.

"Anything to recharge my deflated ass?..." Sokoto collapsed, "And...what about Tabane when she shows up?..."

"Just leave her to me," Daryl winked as she stole someone's boat and rewired it to turn on with the touch of a finger, "Ok! Get on!"

"FMMMMKHYMMMMM! (FUCK YOU!)" Sokoto was exhausted, but he had enough strength to reactivate his wings and flutter to Daryl.

They quickly left for the No Name Key before the boat's owner had a chance to stop them.

 **-20:03-**

On the way over, Sokoto was...there's no way around it, subjecting Daryl to an immeasurable degree of pleasure.

"Uh...why am I doing this again?..." Sokoto cringed.

"Ah...simple," Daryl recovered, "That compound is still active...we have to sneak ourselves in and look the part..."

"Can't we do that without doing...this?..."

"Nah, this is necessary...there's nothing electronic or electric, except walkie-talkies...I'll need the endurance to pilfer them after we break in...Ooooh~"

"I may vomit..." Sokoto muttered before hearing his bracelet beep for the first time in days. He quickly linked with the connector and open a channel, "Hello? Anyone there?"

"Onii-chaaaaaan!" It was Silvia, "It's been forever!"

"Hehehey, Silvia!" Sokoto was elated, "Long time no chat!" He heard cheering from the other end, "Oh? Is that the news crew?"

"Yeah! We were worried sick!"

"I wasn't," that one voice which filled Sokoto with dread.

"Uh...who is that?" Sokoto grew tense.

"Chifuyu Orimura, I am," she said, "and join your mission, I have."

"Your Yoda joke ain't helping me at all, lady..."

Suddenly, Sean came on the line, "What she means is, she'll be helping us get the message across, as well as decipher your true motives."

"Hey! Sean! It's you!"

"Yeah, I'm here. But where are you?"

"Uh, we left the Panhandle some time ago and-"

"Wait, hold up," Daryl interrupted, "Sean? Which Sean?"

"Uh...H?" Sokoto sheepishly answered.

Daryl suddenly got disgusted, "Why the hell did you ask for his help?"

"That's what I said!" Silvia screamed, "Why him?!"

"Wait, Daryl?!" Chifuyu butt in, "I thought you were prison feed-"

"OKOFFTOPICPOINTIS!" Sokoto screamed, "Me and Daryl, we're gonna sneak our way in and send a live feed to the van! Have you secured the right equipment?!"

"Yes, they have!" Silvia answered, "They combined a bunch of old rickety junk to create an impenetrable signal!"

"Oh, good! I'll keep my channel active so you can recognize my broadcast signal! Sean, how long are your opening monologues, usually?"

"Around fifteen minutes, why?" Sean asked.

"Should be plenty of time, but you'll still have to stall until I get my live feed up!"

"Any word on Madoka?" Silvia wondered.

"No, she shut off her communications..."

"How come?"

"I don't know..." Sokoto's mind ran wild with any possible thing that the others have said, or anything he neglected to say, to Madoka to cause her to run off from the group. But he had to stop thinking about others and focus on himself, because a small, sparsely lit island came into view, "Daryl, is that it?"

"Solar panels and has generators, that's it alright!" Daryl reached into the bag and pulled out a fake collar, "Got your wig on?"

"Yeah," Sokoto double-checked his gear and clothes, "Streamline is at full capacity."

"Good," Daryl prepped herself for landing, "The others will have to stall on before we can show them off."

"The hell does that mean?..." Chifuyu didn't follow any of what they said.

"Sean! Chifuyu!" The cameraman said, "Gear up! We're here!"

"Where?"

"Hey, renegade! We'll reconnect later!" Sean rapidly blurted out, "Just get as deep as you can!"

Communication terminated; standby connection running.

"Oh, crapsicles..." Sokoto groaned, "Can we even pull this off?"

"Well, place your bets now, hun," Daryl said, "They can see you."

The boat veered past the island's west coast. The No Name Key. It was indeed sparsely populated by regular residents, and much of the southern end was seemingly nothing but plant life. But Daryl's intuition told her that the compound is in that area, "Go deep into the Refuge Bay."

"Huh?"

"Round the southernmost tip, go in through the inlet," Daryl explained, "That's the Refuge Bay, where no doubt you'll be watched. Just act like you're a greedy person, and let me handle the rest."

"Ok...but after that, you have to tell me what is it with you and the Squall inside me."

"I'll keep it in mind," Daryl nodded, "Now, about that pink thing over there..."

Sokoto saw the weird utility she motioned towards, "Uh...what's that for..."

"Butt plug," Daryl answered...with no remorse, "and it has to go in all the way."

"Oh, god..." Sokoto retched, preparing to plunge the utility into its intended spot, "I'm sorry...I'm sorry, mom!" He kept his petrified eyes open and plunged it in.

 **-DUNKIN' DONUTS, MONROE COUNTY; 20:24-**

Shortly after the renegade disconnected chat, the rest of the crew had entered the Middle Keys. Silvia kept the van at the speed limit until she found the optimal hotspot to broadcast the signal. She then swerved the van into the parking spot right next to the sign, and threw every piece of equipment into overdrive, "Ok, we can set up a connection without getting caught here, thanks to the WiFi. Anyone that's not tech-savvy can take a ten minute break. The rest of you will help me link up with Fox News...H...Q...ugh, can't believe I'm saying that..." she couldn't help it.

"You know he's gonna flip out if you let that interfere with the broadcast..." a crewman muttered.

"I know..." Silvia whimpered, "That's what makes it so painful..."

Chifuyu approached the little sprite, still in awe at how an IS could produce a literal extension of itself. She caught her trying to tune frequencies with FNC and the SS simultaneously, "Uh, Silvia?"

"EEP!" Silvia tensed up, "Here's my data, my security codes, my diary, battle specs, core specs, renegade blood composition-JUST PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"

"Relax, I won't do that," Chifuyu knelt down beside her, "I just...How did you come to life? No one, not even my own class, has ever been able to...do what you do."

"Uuu...you wanna do that now?"

"Well...yeah."

"*SIGH*...To be honest, I never gave it a thought. I'm just glad to be alive."

"Never once thought about that..."

"Nope, probably because he talks to me like I'm an actual human being...which I am sorely missing because my clothes no doubt got destroyed..."

"Wait...you went shopping?!"

"Yeah...really like those clothes, too..."

Chifuyu just dropped her head and went back into the van. She honestly thought she would get a firsthand account of how the Streamline came to exhibit an AI avatar with human-like qualities, but all she got was mountains upon mountains of data that would no doubt take weeks, if not months, to properly sort out. She didn't want to even touch it without Tabane's help, which was a walking brain tumor for her.

Inside the store, Sean was soaking his face with cold water to freshen up for his show. He had just come up with a plan to bring the renegade into his reaction segment, which to him would be the most effective method of changing people's minds about the usual renegade conspiracies, but that required the renegade to maintain his composure, which was next to impossible. He shrugged it off and walked out of the bathroom, when he was immediately recognized by-

"That's him! That's the backstabbing shitbag that's frolicking with the renegade!"

"Hey, it's you, from that one station!" Sean saw one face he recognized, and one he didn't, and feigned surprise, "And you have that one outcast!"

"Enough prancing around," Xingjia growled, "You and your crew are coming with me." She was about to charge her blade at him when-

"The hell is taking you so long, man?! I wanna get this over with!" Chifuyu barged in and basically halted time in that store. She was initially miffed at Sean for not getting ready, but then she looked around and recognized Xingjia, who was still in her female-dominance ways, "Oh, you again."

Xingjia trembled, "Please tell me you were dragged into his mess-"

"No, I forced him to take me along," Chifuyu stopped her dead cold, "and if you wanna say that he kidnapped, which I don't know how he can, then you can say it over your dead body!" She then turned to the other woman, "And who the fuck are you?"

The woman attempted to answer, "Uh...just a woman who thought that he was-"

"Yeah, a woman who thought wrong!" Chifuyu stopped concealing her irritation, "So, maybe take some time to shut your yap, get the wax outta your stank-ass ear holes and those moldy filters outta your looksees, and LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE A TUMBLR!" She managed to shunt Xingjia again, but devastate the other woman. She was glad that her rant was live-streamed on social media, because that way everyone who looked up to her knows that they've annoyed her with their talk of male subjugation. She didn't care about the resultant backlash she would receive; actually, she was looking forward to it, "Hannity! Stop flirting with them and get moving!"

Sean shrugged, "And away we go..."

"Everyone else is ready!" Chifuyu nagged, "Tucker messaged you! Hurry up and answer!"

"You realize I'm gonna have more people than before, right?!" Sean stammered.

 **-REFUGE BAY, 20:42-**

Sokoto pulled the boat up to the inlet and drove closer to the entry point. He saw several men out on patrol motion him closer. He could feel their gaze burning his soul as he clenched the wheel tightly, preparing his mind for the inevitable encounter with the bowels of humanity.

Once he touched sand, several men came out from an underground staircase to greet him. He blurted out something to immediately get their attention, "Got a real good one here, fellas! Had to train her on the way over here, but...y'know."

"Who sent you?" A Hispanic Middle Ages demanded.

Sokoto quickly racked up a name, "One of Hernandez's men. He never says who."

"Yeah?" The man inspected the boat, and found a quaking and leaking Daryl, "And, uh...who's the brood?"

"Daryl Cayce, aka Rain Meusell," Sokoto said, "her niece."

"Meusell?..." That caught the man's interest, "And how did you get her?"

"She lost her IS while she was hiding. I went in, and her friends left her for dead."

"And, uh, you expect me to believe that load of shit?" The man walked towards Sokoto.

"I thought you would like to see it instead of hear it..." he said.

The man looked at Daryl. She did look like she was going through an educational experience. Unfortunately, for her, she needed more education, "Yeah...you got the basics, but you still didn't slut this whore. You fucking using her as a pole?"

"C'mon, boss! Let me have her!" One of the guards shouted.

"Fine," The man said, "Alright, kid. Follow them, and make sure you get it right this time."

"Works for me," Sokoto walked right in while the other dragged Daryl inside.

And boy, was it a sight, and scent, to behold. From the moment they stepped inside the stairwell, they could hear screams of anguish and ecstasy, no doubt from women begging for the uncontrollable waves of pleasure to erase the pain of remembering their lives before they came into slavery. Sokoto felt the bad vibes long before he touched the island, so he knew it would be very bad. He wasn't prepared for what lay beyond the stairs, in the main meeting area.

The aura here was like the compound in Canada, if that compound was duplicated 500 times over, then condensed into one tiny island. Hundreds of women, pilot or not, had been kidnapped and trained here for one purpose, and any deviation, however minuscule, was met with severe punishment, for both the woman who tried to think differently and the person who was not in enough control of that woman. As Sokoto kept walking, he could see a training room where new women were subject to brutal torture, a factory where little children were kidnapped or sold into making control collars for their owners, another meeting room where women were sold to the highest bidder, and another where they were...fed.

"Ain't it beautiful?" The man on Sokoto's left said, "Just imagine the looks on their faces when they get a load of this..."

"Theirs, or the world's?" Sokoto asked.

"I'm talking about theirs," the man on his right responded, "The world ain't gonna care, because what does the world do when they realize one of their fucking asshit pilots goes missing? They cover it up! Classic."

"Is power really that fucked?" Sokoto wondered.

"Well, yeah... I mean, I would exploit that shit when I hear someone else's pilots went missing, or "dropped out" as they say it."

"Dude, enough!" The other man said, "We gotta get those other whores into their cells~"

Apparently, none of them noticed that Sokoto was gone. He found an empty cell to hide in, until he was able to catch his breath. "Holy mother of mercy...what did I just step in?!" He had trouble holding it inside. The creepy sensations, the sight of women being tortured...this was on a different level. He was going in blind. He never saw the live feed from the Aokigahara prison camp, and yet he had to adjust quickly. "Alright...that was...ok, Daryl...where are you..." He tuned his IS's communication link to a very small frequency and wandered about the compound trying to find anything that resembled punk hair. He snuck past people in five corridors, hoping to link up with anyone who might be listening in on the signal.

 **-DUNKIN' DONUTS; 20:56-**

Lord knows that the Brunhilde and the Sprite would love to hear some form of explanation as to how exactly he recruited Daryl of all people.

Mostly Chifuyu, "Rain?! Really?! REALLY?! What does she have that none of the other bimbos have?!"

"Brunhilde...I'm trying to connect to him..." Silvia found herself multitasking with the show, the connections, and the management of availabile Human Resources, "Guys?! Any word on the TCT?!"

"Yes, he's wrapping up his final segment!" A crewman shouted, "Ok, everyone in position!"

"You heard him!" Sean clapped his hands and rallied more than TEN PEOPLE by the van, "We gotta get this ball rolling! The sooner we get it off our chests, the sooner we can all go home!"

"Oh, thank god..." Chifuyu sarcastically blurted, "I thought I wouldn't get to cheese this lousy ass into bleeding again..."

"I still don't understand why you haven't fled the country, yet!" Xingjia griped, "You know the consequences of showing your face nationwide!"

"Hey, if the renegade can be internet-famous with little effort, so can I," Chifuyu quipped.

"That's not why you should be fighting!" A woman complained to her, "I thought you stood for all that a woman believes in!"

"Oh, honey..." and laugh, "I have so much to teach you..."

"Tucker's about to send it over to us!" A crewman said.

"Alright, no more shouting!" Silvia screamed, "Everyone freeze!"

Everyone froze. The TelePrompTer was up and running, the lights were at optimal settings, the guests were standing right beside the van, the camera was focused on Sean, the computers in the van were running full capacity ready to merge and switch screens at a moment's notice, the van's signal was fully linked with the proper satellites, and everyone was on edge, because they knew that the instant Sean uttered his first word of the hour, there was no turning back. Whatever they say and or do will be out there for the world to see.

Sean knew that all too well, and he's already prepared for the utterly insane backlash he anticipated he would face. He cleared his throat and straightened himself out, ready to take the baton of the nighttime news relay. He knew that more than three million people around the nation would be watching him on TV, and even more would be watching around the world through some other means. But he was prepared, because in the little tone he was given to prepare a presentation, he had planned every possible scenario and every single sentence, argument, and counter to respond to. He felt like he had lead lungs and jelly legs. But none of that mattered. He just had to let it come.

"Well, that does it for us tonight. Tune in at 8 o'clock to the show that's the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, self-righteousness, and groupthink. But right now, breaking news: Sean Hannity is still alive! Haha, Sean! He survived!"

"In the flesh, Tucker, as you can clearly see!"

"What happened, man?! Last I heard, you had a run-in with you-know-who!"

"I did, and I almost had him, too!"

"Whoa, now that's something I gotta hear about when you get back."

"Oh, you don't have to wait that long, because this...Hohohoo, boy..."

"Oh, I know that face! We're all ears, trust me!"

"Alright, great show as always, Tucker. I'll see you and Jeanine in a couple days. And welcome to a very special edition, no commercial interruption episode of Hannity...um...To everyone who is watching tonight, and everyone who has offered support throughout this absolutely incoherent weekend, I am grateful to you all. I have nothing but respect and appreciation for you all, but I have gotten some very damming information, all of it from firsthand experience with, of course, the renegade. What I'm about to show you is so unbelievable, so abnormal, that many of you will call me out for being an outright liar, that my ratings will plummet, and they should, honestly. Because, again, what I'm about to reveal is so unheard of...that I have to ask you to stop watching, for two reasons. Number one: What all this is, I don't wanna say it's breaking news, but it has not only afflicted our way of thinking, it's been the symptom of a nasty virus that has been sunken in since the signing of the Alaska Treaty. Yeah, I didn't believe it at first, until the renegade showed me exactly what he and Phantom Task had uncovered, albeit using methods that will no doubt have consequences on them, and on us. By the way, the renegade is reason number two. He's agreed to bring us live footage from one of the compounds where the effects of the virus have fully blossomed. And well, let's just say, it's not pleasant. This goes into black market, international trafficking, political sabotage, all that not-safe-for-anyone stuff. If you're not comfortable with seeing that, it's fine. Turn off the TV, we'll catch you back up without the viewer-discretion image warning. We'll post an article on our website where images will only contain documents, no people. For everyone else that decided to continue watching and see exactly what I'm talking about, brace yourself. Everything will be explained in tonight's...well, actually let's call it my final Opening Monologue."


	2. Exposure Dump

_Part 2: Exposure Dump_

 **(DAAAA-DAA-DAN-DAN-DAN-DAH!)**

Sean: "Ok, there's a lot to get through, but that'll take up a week's worth of radio and tv shows. The short version of it is that, right before the ratification of the Alaska Treaty, there was a hidden amendment viewable only to the people who created the Treaty. Not the countries, the people. There were 10 in that room, and they came together and said, "Well, what if the women go crazy with power? What if they used the IS to subjugate the world and forcefully mold it in their image?" That could've been, I'll never know and I'm not sure I wanna know, because I know that what came from that meeting was something that I'd like to call, the Teary Red Eyes Provision. A name as ridiculous as its premise: they thought that-by the way, don't take my word for it; it's there on the side of your screen. Yeah, they were dumb enough to leave documents behind! What for?! Record keeping?! What, did they leave a mission statement behind-oh my god, they did. They basically feared that the mere prospect of women having sole control over a powerful weapon like the IS would throw society into complete disorder, that the distinction between men and women would be warped if women had more power than men, and that was something they could not allow. Uh-huh, and how did that work out for you? They were so invested in a "proper world" where superior males would "rule over inferior females" that they created a Provision that included IS pilots and personnel under the list of tools that should be shared with the world. You heard that correctly. Not only should all IS technology be shared, but the pilots, being tools themselves, should be shared. First off, our next President would like to have a word with you. Second off, how demented do you have to be to pull off something like this right under our noses?! Is it really that hard to just talk in the open?! You know, given one of the drafters of the Treaty had some nasty accusations of sexual harassment behind him, that were outright disregarded by whoever hired him? Oh, but it doesn't just stop there. Again, side of your screen, those documents detail exactly how they've been able to quote-unquote "keep the peace." AKA, reduce the number of potential pilots to a set limit, leave a small number alone, and just outright kidnap or extort the others. Bribes, blackmail, even debt fraud and debt collection, you name it, they've done it. And guess what? This was a worldwide collaboration! MS-13, American mafia, Italian mafia, Yamaguchi-gumi, and dear god so much more. Feeling queasy yet? Well, grab your buckets, because it gets much worse. That mentality of keeping balance, if you can call it that, has pervaded politics! Yeah, it finally happened! Politics has been twisted and deformed beyond recognition! And the bigger the superpower, the bigger the warp, with the USA...God, it hurts to say this, getting the worst of it. Governors, local papers, even some people on Capitol Hill! Representatives of bigger states, a couple senators, and remember the chairman of the DNC? All his talk about feminism and how women should be at the helm of the STEM fields? The money he got from those speeches were sent straight to MS-13! The chairman of the RNC, I thought he would establish real conservatism, it turns out I was duped along with many other Americans who didn't realize that he was a soundboard for these people. This goes beyond corruption, beyond mere scandals, beyond every single collusion case we've had in the past. This is a virus that has infected the world, and it grew stronger over the years. So much so that when Phantom Task first revealed the prison camp near the Japanese Suicide Forest, what was the first thing the Empress and Prime Minister did? They tried to cover it up. The Brunhilde, Chifuyu Orimura, she gave us a recording of what they told her to say! What a day and age we live in. And what's even more unbelievable than that? She's right in front of me, ready to react to every word I just said, along with a few other people who have been impacted by the renegade in some form. But before we go to them, we will go to the renegade, who's in one of the Florida Keys. The green light lit up ten seconds ago, which means connection is stable. Renegade, can you hear me?"

Sokoto: "..."

Sean: "Are you able to respond? Renegade?"

Sokoto: "...yes, I can...just not too loudly, though..."

Sean: "Ok, we're gonna bring the video feed in about five seconds. Can you stream to us?"

Sokoto: "Not sure that's a good idea-did you just green light me? The camera's on my POV, isn't it?"

Sean: "Uhhh...what...am I looking at..."

Chifuyu: "Oh my god..."

Xingjia: "No way that's real..."

Sokoto: "It is. This is where initial training begins. The women are subjected to constant rape and injected with...something that makes them more sensitive-good ffffffffructose..."

Sean: "That scream...wait...please tell me that's a wooden nub."

Sokoto: "Nope. Just a really big-"

Sean: "Ok! Done! Nope! Mute him! We'll keep the split screen!"

Woman 1: "What kind of sick joke is that?!"

Woman 2: "It's not a joke at all!"

Chifuyu: "Please, not now."

Woman 1: "You have to be lying! There's no way that this can be real!"

Sean: "Take a look at this. Files, videos, and names. That should prove it."

Woman 1: "No, let me see that..."

Sean: "Oh, right. Here with reaction, Chifuyu Orimura, IS Academy instructor, Xingjia Liang, former head of the Chinese elite IS Special Forces..."

Xingjia: "Impossible..."

Sean: "Yeah, it happened..."

Woman 2: "I...I had no idea..."

Man 1: "Why didn't anyone say anything?!"

Sean: "And some residents of the Florida Keys-what do you mean, no one said anything?"

Man 1: "Whenever anybody talked about the renegade, it was all, "He's a menace!" or, "He's a cold-blooded killer!" None of this crap-"

Woman 1: "It's all crap! It has to be!"

Sean: "Ok-"

Woman 1: "There's no way he was the one who gathered all this! It-it has to be made up!"

Chifuyu: "You don't think Phantom Task would've been able to procure some of this, do you?"

Woman 1: "Why would they?! They don't have anything to do with him!"

Man 1: "Actually, CNN said they did."

Woman 1: "What?! MSNBC said no!"

Woman 2: "No way! They said yes!"

Sean: "Can I jump in a bit?"

Woman 1: "WHAT?!"

Sean: "You remember that MSNBC also ran a story where Autumn and Madoka were set to low priority in the search for-"

Woman 1: "No, because that didn't happen. That never happened, and screw you for saying it did happen!"

Man 2: "Actually, that was NBC. MSNBC just reran that-"

Woman 1: "SHUT UP! SHUT UP, EVERYONE JUST-"

Chifuyu: "I'm sorry, you were saying?"

Xingjia: "No, don't-"

Chifuyu's cellphone: "So, some disturbing news. Phantom Task has had their wanted status set to low priority. Maybe because the renegade is such a bigger threat that they don't even bother because...where are they now? There's no word, nobody's seen them, but look at the way they distinguish 'Phantom Task' from 'the renegade'—"

Chifuyu: "This was six days ago."

Sean: "Wow...She was actually on to something for once."

Xingjia: "How could you..."

Chifuyu: "Because, screw you for ruining feminism."

Xingjia: "I'm perfecting feminism!"

Woman 2: "It's not feminism if you proclaim gender superiority."

Xingjia: "And who are you to spout such nonsense?!"

Sean: "Wait, you're thinking about starting a war?!"

Xingjia: "You do not learn! You should know your place by now, filthy swine!"

Sean: "Uh-"

Xingjia: "Why should we not deal to you the same humiliation that women have-"

Sean: "-CAMERA!"

Xingjia: "!"

Chifuyu: "What were we talking about again?"

Xingjia: "..." (runs off)

Woman 3: "What's with her?"

Sean: "Guess she couldn't handle a second humiliation..."

Woman 1: "..."

Man 2: "We should react to what you said, but...what's that on the projector?..."

Sean: "Oh, yeah. You can see it while we're-that's not a belt. That is not a belt."

Woman 2: "Is that a whip?!"

Man 1: "Uh, aren't we gonna talk about his impact?"

Sean: "Later...people back at home can see more than our bickering...renegade, can you hear me?"

Sokoto: "..."

Sean: "Oh, now he's hiding somewhere...Renegade, can you hear me?"

Sokoto: "Brrgh...Yep, I hear ya..."

Sean: "Ok, I think it's safe to assume that you captured a lot of footage of people being...initiated...have you been able to find any documents or people of interest?"

Sokoto: "Nope. Just people. This is a lot worse than the one in Mount Fuji..."

Man 1: "Fuji?! That video of men in lumberjack costumes-that was him?! Where is he now?!"

Sokoto: "...I'm in the No Name Key..."

Woman 1: "No Name?..."

Man 2: " That's like 40 minutes away!"

Sean: "Be back, Sokoto. Did anybody notice any suspicious activity before I got here?"

Everyone: "..."

Chifuyu: "Really? No nighttime patrol? Wandering walkers? Nothing?"

Xingjia: "I'm more concerned about the Provision...How were they able to sneak that in?..."

Woman 1: "Who signed it?! Who signed the Treaty?!"

Xingjia: " From what I viewed, mostly men..."

Sean: "And their staff was mostly men-I think you just answered your own question."

Sokoto: "It's like you said, but it branched out into more than a way to keep a population in check. I'm capturing a paper right now."

Chifuyu: "Oh...my..."

Woman 2: "Method to control the mentality of the world-what?!"

Xingjia: "These points..."

Sean: "That name...he's on the UN Security Council!"

Chifuyu: "Why's my Prime Minister's name on there?"

Sean: "Did it say anything about who wrote that memo?"

Sokoto: "Nope...Just more of the same thing..."

Man 2: "How did you get in there?!"

Sokoto: "I had help. I came here with Daryl."

Sean: "Who?"

Chifuyu: "Daryl Cayce, AKA Rain Meusell. Member of the former Phantom Task...and Squall's niece."

Daryl: "Nice to meet you too."

Woman 1: "The hell is that?!"

Sean: "How did you meet the renegade?"

Daryl: "I ran into him at the gas station off of Crawfordville. He told me what happened and I offered to help him. I pretended to be his hostage and kicked my captors off me when the coast was clear."

Sean: "Ok...well, what are you doing right now?"

Daryl: "Searching for some people. We have to go now, else we get caught."

Sean: "Right...we'll check back in ten minutes."

Woman 1: "I...I don't know what to believe anymore..."

Xingjia: "I thought men were all a big nuisance... and yet here they are..."

Sean: "Are you surprised to find someone actually helping the superior people?"

Woman 2: "Well...he did rescue all those girls..."

Sean: "Twice, though he left a blood pool behind."

Man 1: "My niece just came home yesterday. She said she saw that message he left behind."

Sean: "Was she a captive?"

Man 1: "Yeah, she was missing for a month."

Sean: "Did she want to say anything about her harrowing experience?"

Man 1: "No, just that Phantom Task will kill them all..."

Sean: "Who here's been directly affected by the renegade?...Ok, all but two of you. Ok, Chifuyu, you gave me a recording earlier. Did the Prime Minister really threaten you to cover up that prison camp?"

Chifuyu: "Threatened, and bribed me. At the time, Japan was leading the world in IS technology, and she was not going to give it up."

Sean: "And it shows. Let's get a playback of that voice clip..."

Prime Minister's voice: "I'm telling you now, you're in for a world of hurt if you refuse this offer."

Chifuyu's voice: "The entire world saw the prison thing! You want me to disregard that?!"

Prime Minister's voice: "Believe me, this is for the greater good."

Chifuyu's voice: "Does Ichika count in the great good?"

Prime Minister's voice: "Only your cooperation will guarantee that. Your salary multiplier is on the line as well."

Sean: "She actually said that..."

Xingjia: "What was the rationale behind that...?"

Man 2: "That...sounds dangerously close to one of Jacquelyn Leonie's town halls..."

Sean: "Oh, you heard that line, too?"

Man 2: "Still recorded in my DVR. An owner of a small consulting firm said that he's scared to hire a woman because-"

Man 1: "Oh, yeah! "When I go to shake her hand or give her a high-five, I better have a bank account big enough to cover the sexual assault lawsuit she will fill against me." Or something like that..."

Woman 1: "Please, don't."

Chifuyu: "She said, "Let's talk about the real problem in order to resolve your predicament." In front of expletive-ing millions."

Sean: "Same motive, but not sure it's the exact same thing..."

Chifuyu: "I'd call both a threat to shut up and do as you're told or face "EXTREEEEEEEEEME" retribution."

Sean: "And what about you? Besides your niece having been rescued, did anything else happen around you?"

Man 1: "Well...it's had an effect on her, like she actually wants to meet the person who saved her."

Sean: "Oh, boy..."

Woman 1: "No! No, do not get him close to her! Do not let him come within 5 miles of her!"

Woman 2: "He's just a kid! Nobody taught him any better!"

Woman 1: "He can't be taught! He's an unteachable menace! Why do people look up to this guy?!"

Sean: "We're going in circles now. Let's bring the focus back to-"

Chifuyu: "Sean...everyone...what the hell..."

Sean: "What? What's the..."

Xingjia: "..."

Man 1: "What in the world..."

Woman 2: "Why..."

Sean: "Media, rejoice. Your long-standing "media-truther" will die after tonight."

Chifuyu: "I can't...I...no..."

Sean: "Ok, let's do this. Renegade, can you hear me?"

Daryl: "He's too stunned in silence to talk. I'm standing right behind him. Lemme just..."

Sokoto: "HHGHGKHKH...Daryl! No!"

Sean: "Renegade?"

Sokoto: "*GLUP*...yeah?..."

Sean: "We need visual and audible confirmation. Can you describe the characteristics of the person you see in front of you?"

Daryl: "Aside from the pig mating season?"

Sokoto: "Uh...yeah...just...Aw, nasty! I may vomit..."

Woman 2: "You and me both..."

Sokoto: "I'm seeing...blonde hair, it's got a blue ribbon...and purple eyes...dark shade of purple...oh, sugar honey iced tea..."

Sean: "What is it? Brace yourself, people..."

Sokoto: "Control collar and orange angel pendant-confirmed presence of Charlotte Dunois!"

Daryl: "Whoa! Did not expect that!"

Chifuyu: "UGH... I'm gonna barf..."

Sean: "Hey...hey..."

Woman 2: "We found her...they can get her out..."

Chifuyu: "Not that...I had Maya secretly task a crew...she looked into it for a year! How did a bunch of criminals find in a month what I tried to find for a year?!"

Sean: "They're criminals...well, severely reckless vigilantes to put that very, VERY nicely...they go into territory that normal authorities don't dare to touch."

Xingjia: "Is that how this works now?...Throw honor and dignity away for whatever simple goal they wish to accomplish?!"

Sokoto: "Daryl...make your way outside...tell everyone and everything what just happened here..."

Daryl: "Uh, really?"

Sokoto: "Yes, really. And take her with you."

Daryl: "Where are you going with this?"

Sokoto: "I'm gonna blow the place sky high."

All: "WHAT?!"

Chifuyu: "Are you mental?!"

Sean: "You realize that that island has lives, right?!"

Sokoto: "Every single breaster on this island has a control collar. Those control collars kill off brain cells not in constant use. The only way to get them off is by fingerprint."

Daryl: "Can't we get their fingerprints when the guys are dead?"

Chifuyu: "Or wait till help arrives?!"

Xingjia: "Or do anything besides what you usually do?!"

Sean: "What about that rescue operation in Canada?!"

Sokoto: "None of them had control collars on them back there. This is different. These people had them on for days. They're too far go-"

Charlotte: "My master!"

Daryl: "Oh god!"

Sokoto: "COOTIE ATTACK!"

Woman 1: "Cooties?!"

Charlotte: "I have been waiting! Longing for another master to serve!"

Sokoto: "Get her OFFA ME!"

Daryl: "That's a you problem."

Sokoto: "SCREW YOU, COCK-GOBLIN!"

Charlotte: "These pigs are no good! I need a real man to satisfy me!"

Sokoto: "ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! Listen! Listen! I'll make you a deal!"

Charlotte: "Deal?"

Sokoto: "Yeah! Yeah. Um...you, go with her and mess up whatever you can...I'll...ugh...spend the night with you..."

Charlotte: "Really?! You'll do that?!"

Daryl: "Are you sure you wanna-"

Sokoto: "You butchered me, so I don't how how she could do any worse."

Sean: "Is it time for my mini-monologue yet?"

Charlotte: "As you command, master!"

Sokoto: "No physical contact until we get outta here, damn you!"

Daryl: "You're still not gonna...you know..."

Sokoto: "Well, what do you expect me to do?"

Chifuyu: "Can you smash the collars?!"

Sokoto: "Sure, If you want their necks scarred."

Woman 2: "They won't die from that, right?!"

Man 1: "Can you do something with your IS?"

Sokoto: "I can call Rabbit Girl, but I doubt she can do-"

Sean: "Ok, mini-monologue! Renegade, I got some personal questions for you."

Sokoto: "Go. Get her out."

Sean: "Is there really no other option to se-"

 **(DAAAA-DAA-DAN-DAN-DAN-DAH!)**

Sean: "Uhhh, was that necessary?"

Silvia: "I dunno..."

Sean: "Ok-Look. I get it. I get that there are bad people, just like there are bad runts in the litter. But do you really have to get rid of the entire litter?"

Sokoto: "What do you mean?"

Sean: "Like, there has to be at least one man that helped you, right? Out of all the runts you came across, who's the good runt?"

Woman 1: "Where are you going with this?"

Sean: "Just play along..."

Sokoto: "Well, I did run into Squall's father, but that's it."

Sean: "Ok. Out of probably a hundred bad guys, one good guy. And out of a sean of women who want you dead, how many haven't tried to kill you?"

Sokoto: "Uh, where are you going with this?"

Sean: "Just trying to stop you from doing something even more stupid than what you usually do. Those girls lost it, you said. They've lost their inhibition, probably, but that also means that they've lost their ill will! They're not capable of hurting anyone unless someone tells them to! Now, you tell me! You will fight someone if they chose to fight you, but are you seriously gonna throttle someone for following someone else's orders?"

Sokoto: "Uhhh..."

Sean: "Not everything has to be black and white. Like me, you've seen some of my shows. You know there's some gray area I muck up. But that didn't stop me from continuing to seek the truth of what's really happened. I just had to change my methods a bit, to where I wasn't just a mindedness persecutor."

Sokoto: "I can't go crazy with the blade-thing, can I?..."

Sean: "Absolutely not."

Sokoto: "...Well, what now? Daryl is probably signaling the outside world as we speak..."

Chifuyu: "...free them..."

Sean: "Wh..."

Chifuyu: "Can you at least get them into the open?..."

Sokoto: "Uh...maybe, if I can blow open another escape route...without getting the cooties..."

Chifuyu: "I'll be with you in a few..."

Man 1: "Right now?"

Xingjia: "You're doing what?!"

Chifuyu: "I need to see this in person."

Xingjia: "No, you can see it just fine from here!"

Chifuyu: "To ensure a safe evacuation?"

Xingjia: "That Daryl woman should have alerted the authorities! They can get her out!"

Chifuyu: "And take out the renegade, I assume?! Even though that'll drop his bounty to zip?!"

Xingjia: "We're not killing him. We can always extract Core 000 from him."

Chifuyu: "So you can keep it for yourself. In hopes that you can get your precious status back?"

Xingjia: "..."

Sean: "Everyone get back..."

Xingjia: "You should have left your brother to die. Instead, you sully your own legacy with that deadweight by your side."

Chifuyu: "Are you still on that notion that may or may not have been manufactured by evil people?"

Xingjia: "That "notion" was propagated to counter the ridiculousness of the Teary Red Eyes Provision!"

Woman 1: "Is that what it's called?"

Sean: "So glad I'm quitting after this..."

Chifuyu: "You've become exactly what those men said you are."

Xingjia: "You want to prove that spineless claim with your pathetic excuse of a moral statement?"

Chifuyu: "Yeah...over the Key."

Sokoto: "What?!"

Man 2: "Goddammit..."

Sean: "Uh, renegade?"

Sokoto: "Yep, I'm gonna hold off on the sky high asspull."

Sean: "Are you two really going to fight over this?"

Chifuyu: "I don't think we have a choice."

Xingjia: "Yes, you do! You just chose to remain blinded by the stupidity of man!"

Chifuyu: "Because what's a woman without a human?"

Xingjia: "What nonsense are you spouting now?"

Sokoto: "Sean, you're gonna have to cut this short..."

Sean: "Oh, what now?..."

Sokoto: "Daryl messaged me. Charlotte got caught."

Chifuyu: "HUH?!"

Sokoto: "There's other guys on me. I gotta go."

Sean: "Ok, we'll keep your visuals on."

Woman 2: "Are you sure it's ok to show them this?"

Sean: "Well, it's not like the election's going to be counted..."

Man 1: "Say what..."

Sean: "Yeah, Phantom Task invaded the protests and their influence...shows."

Xingjia: "Why do you feel that the election is relevant to this?"

Sean: "Did you just forgo your little feud?"

Xingjia: "Well..."

Sean: "Why don't you and Chifuyu go over there? That way, you can claim the renegade for yourself, and Chifuyu can get Charlotte to safety."

Chifuyu: "Sounds like a plan."

Xingjia: "Wait-what do you mean, the election is not going to be counted?"

Sean: "Well...look."

Woman 1: "Again with the videos?"

Sean: "You wouldn't believe it otherwise."

Chifuyu: "Not this again...WHAT IS SHE DOING?!"

Sean: "Yep...she's one of them."

Man 1: "My daughter looks up to Cecilia!"

Man 2: "Wait till she hears this..."

Sean: "Oh, yeah...Ever since Phantom Task was set to low priority on the Wanted List, they've been inciting protest clashes between counties. And...just look at these clips here..."

-CLIP MONTAGE-

Autumn: "Make women man up already!"

Madoka: "Don't let the world fall to Leonie's influence!"

Cecilia: "Do you see how the men are nothing but greedy conquerors who take everything and give nothing back?!"

Chelsea: "Don't let what happened to me happen to you too!"

-CLIP MONTAGE END-

Woman 2: "What in the actual..."

Sean: "This has happened before, albeit on a smaller scale. Here, they're just exploiting it for their own pleasure. See, they're high-fiving each other, then they go back into the chaos. Everyone is influenced by their actions, even some in the media are starting to take notice. Or should I say, siding with them. Blogging sites are divided, but look at this. New York Times and the Guardian both reported on that same thing, with different takes."

Man 1: "Wow...and this is..."

Sean: "That was written yesterday. And just one example of how Phantom Task weaved its way into our lives."

Chifuyu: "Yeah, I'm going over there. I will have words with that dickcock."

Xingjia: "..."

Sean: "Let me guess. You're gonna leave her to either the captors, or your pilots."

Xingjia: "I shall assist..."

Chifuyu: "Hmm?"

Xingjia: "But only if you can guarantee that the renegade will come with me."

Chifuyu: "You'll have to fight Tabane..."

Xingjia: "I don't care..."

Chifuyu: "You go ahead. I'll catch up in five."

Xingjia: "Good...maybe now I can finally see the renegade for who he really is..." *BOOM*

Sean: "Ah, about that..."

Chifuyu: "What?"

Sean: "He's no better than an immature grade schooler."

Chifuyu: "Huh?"

Woman 1: "No way, I do not believe that."

Man 2: "How else was he able to blow up a block, or even half a volcano?"

Sean: "This is how...brace yourself for the most confusing video montage you've ever seen."

-CLIP MONTAGE: FIRST CLIP-

Sokoto: "Oh, goddammit..."

Sean: "What?"

Sokoto: "That guy I killed...he used to be my uncle, the brother of the head of the yakuza clan I was raised in..."

Sean: "Firstly, you just admitted to killing a family member. Secondly, you belonged to WHAT?!"

Silvia: "The Yamaguchi-gumi. The orphanage that Sokoto came from was paying them protection money. The day the yakuza came to collect a payment was the day several extremists bombed the place. Not much from that incident, other than the fact that the men took in a strange-haired baby."

Sean: "And...when did you leave them?..."

Sokoto: "When I was 13. Surprised no one saw me leave. I still got the tattoo on my-"

Sean: "Noooonononononono, don't you dare!"

-SECOND CLIP-

Sean: "You're staring into oblivion, kid. Anything you wanna tell me about this place?"

Sokoto: "Yeah...I was involved in one of the protests here..."

Sean: "How?"

Sokoto: "I got every bone broke."

Sean: "No, way...you?! You're the person who was sent to the hospital?!"

Sokoto: "Yeah..."

Sean: "Huh...Well, let's see if anybody recognizes you. Go in there and ask for a full tank."

-THIRD CLIP-

Sokoto: "Ugh...my head..."

"Is he always like this?" A cameraman asked.

"I guess so..."

Sokoto: "WOTCHAK!"

Sean: "Would you stop doing that?!"

Sokoto: "Uy! Oh. I actually needed that!"

Sean: "What are we even doing here?! Don't you have to go down to the Keys or whatever you have to do?!"

Sokoto: "I know, I know! But just let me give my legs a chance to flex! They've been stiff since this morning..."

Sean: "Am I crazy? I gotta be going crazy. I can't take this..."

-CLIP MONTAGE END-

Sean: "And that was just the tip of the iceberg of what a huge headache this guy turned out to be. I had my team dig any and all footage of the renegade they could find. Nearly all of it was just the renegade acting like a freeloading hobo. Pranks...massive air quotes there, insults, even the occasional high fives. He kept up the asshole quips until he invaded North America. Oh, by the way. All that crazy destructive action...and he's not even 17."

Woman 1: "Great...now I don't know what to believe."

Man 2: "He needs major rehab, it seems."

Sean: "No, that's not nearly enough."

Chifuyu: "I'll try to knock some sense into him."

Sean: "You sure?"

Man 1: "Didn't you once sweat revenge on him for what he did to Tabane?"

Sean: "And again for Fuji-san?"

Woman 2: "And again after he got away from you?"

Chifuyu: "Yeah, but...I'm just tired, I guess." *BOOM*

Sean: "And she's gone...she's gone."

Woman 2: "Well...That was...eye-opening..."

Sean: "Hahahah, where did this show go?"

Man 1: "I don't know...I honestly thought we were going to go to political crap."

Sean: "We sort of did, yeah!"

Man 2: "I think that's the least of our problems..."

Woman 1: "I don't think I can take any more of this..."

Sean: "Well, I'll just go ahead and let you go. Thanks for coming on. I'll catch back with the renegade and try to explain some of the things I showed the viewers at home...or not. I just saw three pilots fly by here..."


	3. Too Fast!

_Part 3: Too Fast!_

By the time the show was a little more than a third of the way done, its effects were being felt throughout the world.

 **-RESIDENTIAL AREA, BROWARD COUNTY, 21:13 LOCAL TIME-**

Families across the counties nearest to the Keys were in a state of shock. They knew that the renegade would try and infiltrate their neighborhood. They had no idea that he was that close to them, trying to take care of something far worse than the Fuji-san disaster. They assumed the worst and put their households on what might as well be lockdown. Parents and children hugged each other tightly as they witnessed the most wanted criminal try to curtail the rancid activity happening literally underneath their noses.

Those who were not in the luxury of a safe and private haven found themselves spreading the show like gospel to every single contact on their phones. Within minutes, Hannity became the most trending topic on social media, with this live broadcast completely taking over every main page. And the people who weren't social media savvy did little more than stare blankly into the night sky, thinking that their futures were hanging on the threads of the one person they wished never got those threads.

 **-LOS ANGELES COUNTY, 18:15 LOCAL TIME-**

Places like Los Angeles, where the political norm has been very Democratic, got the worst of it. Throughout the live show, people across the city have tried desperately to hide the broadcast from the rest of the population, using denial tactics, lures to draw viewers away from the show, or outright threats of public humiliation. They even tried to label the claim that the DNC was a puppet for the Provision was just a made-up conspiracy theory. But the instant that Charlotte's name sounded throughout the city's audio devices, the floodgates were ripped off. Whatever protests occurred were ceased. The show somehow ended up on the many Jumbotrons littered across the county, making it available for all to see. There were no more denials, no more rumors, and no more political goggles, just the cold hard truth. For such a long time, the people of Los Angeles were staunch defenders of amnesty for immigrants looking for a life that has nothing to do with poverty and persecution. Now, thanks to the efforts of Phantom Task for uncovering firsthand evidence of criminal activity seeping in from all borders for the purpose of "maintaining balance" between man and pilot, many people, including officials who were supposed to be the representatives of their city, would have no choice but to rethink their stances.

This sudden realization that the renegade has forced down their throats caused some people to scream. They actually wanted the renegade to succumb to the very captors that kidnapped those women. But the most common response was to just shut off whatever showed them the horrible truth, and wait until the news media eased them into the conversation to say anything.

 **-TIMES SQUARE, 21:20 LOCAL TIME-**

There was no shutting off in New York, however, as traffic was literally slowed to a halt, all because of the broadcast occupying the tv screens of an entire building. Drivers across the city who honked in anger of the pedestrians bringing the square to a standstill were lured out of their motorized safe zones and into the renegade's discovery. They were especially shocked by a document that displayed the main import stations for slaves-in-training, one of them in the Staten Island Ferry's Whitehall Terminal. But instead of panic, there was silence. Dead silence across the streets, with the occasional gasp in between the cars honking and engines screaming.

Among the speechless were the many anchors and reporters in Times Square Studio. Never mind the fact that their own programs were being overshadowed by a competitor; they now had to worry about their own reaction to this issue once tomorrow comes. A few of them tried to kill the stream to their building; one tried to contact an electric company to blackout the city:

"Hello, how can I help you?" A female voice answered the phone.

"Ah, yes. Is it possible for you to cut the power to all of NYC?" A reporter asked.

To which the female laughed and responded, "I'm gonna have you belay that."

"What?! Why?!"

 **-TRAVELER'S COFFEE, SAKHA REPUBLIC, 10:21 LOCAL TIME-**

"Because I'm in control of the broadcast," that female voice belonged to Kanzashi, "and I say, everyone will see it."

"Is there anything you can do?! I'll do anything!"

"Anything, you say?"

"Yes!"

"Well, you can explain why you haven't told anyone about this, since I saw your name on that list of people who were bribed to hide the truth from us."

"I...I...can't..."

Kanzashi smiled, "Can't, won't same difference," and mashed her hand on her laptop, causing the satellite that received and sent the broadcast to make itself and the signal invulnerable to everything, "Enjoy Cruise and Nicholson on eternal playback." She disconnected the signal and leaned back in her chair. She let her eyes wander around the cafe, smiling at the bewildered looks of all the patrons as they started to clamor for answers. "Those advanced computer science classes really paid off," she sighed. During her time at the IS Academy, she had a knack for programming and technical design, so she used whatever time wasn't wasted on personal hygiene, health, and Ichika harem fantasies, and vastly expanded her knowledge of coding. That knowledge was put to good use after Fuji's eruption, as she prepared a program to strengthen any signal sent to and from the Silver Streamline. She had it condensed into a flash drive, and through the magic of extreme hot potato, that flash drive was successfully passed to Tatenashi, who gave it to Daryl once she snapped out of it, who equipped it to Sokoto's bracelet. Although it offered absolute protection to one satellite transmission link, the power of social media and livestream hacks amplified the broadcast to ridiculous levels, to the point where it didn't matter if it was just one satellite. The whole world still saw it.

"I wonder if there's anyone who isn't flipping their shit over this..."Kanzashi sighed.

 **-TIANANMEN SQUARE, BEIJING MUNICIPALITY; 09:32 LOCAL TIME-**

"Ok, assquacks!" China President Lingyin shouted in a private meeting with her cabinet, "Who let this happen?!"

"It was done by an outside intrusion," the Premier said, "A terrorist group has infiltrated-"

"Yeah, yeah, led by the Sarashiki family, I know that much," Lingyin griped, "What I don't know is: 1, how the broadcast went to our own, heavily protected social media applications with little interference; 2, how two drastically different reports of human trafficking in China came to my desk; and 3, how those reports basically supported what the renegade and his Fox nutjob sidekick have been blaring in everyone's ears for the past hour! I don't care about the pirated broadcast; I have a task force hunting them down. I don't care about the most wanted person doing even worse things. I want every single person involved with these two reports brought over for questioning!"

"And what about the public unrest caused by the renegade's interference?" Someone asked.

"We'll need at least a hundred members of the National People's Congress to form an internal committee to bring the chaos under control," Lingyin said, "and we'll need elite members of our People's Liberation Army to keep tabs on Xingjia to make sure she doesn't embarrass us...even further, oy..."

"It will be done, Miss President," a councilman said.

"We'll reconvene tomorrow, same time," Lingyin concluded the meeting, "Now, I have another very irritating matter to deal with..."

"Is it really related to the renegade?" A councilwoman asked.

"Nope," Lingyin answered, "It's related to moles in the westernmost provincial governments, which is much worse!" She slammed the door shut, not batting an eye to the other bewildered faces in the meeting room.

A councilman tried to ask, "Does anyone know if she has even read through anything that we put on-"

"She's read everything that came within her reach," the assistant to the President muttered, "every single word unscathed."

"Damn..." the Premier muttered, "This will be problematic..."

"Are you saying she's unfit to embody the principles of the People of China?" A councilman demanded.

"That's just it...I fear she may be embodying them...too well..."

Outside, Lingyin has already made her way to the crowded open space in full view of the broadcast and the masses of people clamoring for answers. She had in mind to try and calm them down by speech, but she ended up saying, "Listen to me, my fellow citizens! You have no need to fear the pirates who have pervaded our beloved city!"

There's a reason some high officials worried about Lingyin's term: her lack of consideration for reassurance, "Oh, that came out wrong...uh..."

"Do you have an answer to how this broadcast was able to enter through our borders?" A reporter asked.

"We know that it's facilitated by those in the Southern and Northern regions who wished to expose you to the horrors of the Westernized world," Lingyin responded, "I've ordered a team of our most respected individuals to investigate and bring order to the provinces suspected to harbor those who transgress against their own homeland."

"And what about the renegade himself?!" A civilian demanded, "What are we gonna do now that he's revealed this mess?!"

"Oh, that's tricky," Lingyin admitted, "Turns out there's quite a few individuals in the National People's Congress that basically turned their backs on the Chinese in favor of, go figure, more time in their cozy offices. And if that's not enough, the influx of money last year was mainly contributed by the Westernmost Provinces, get this, via human trafficking. And goddamn me..."

At that point, she knew she made the mood worse. Thankfully, the people were more self-contained in their expressions of dismay, giving Lingyin a safe opportunity to be blunt about her plan, "Listen, you have my word that everyone involved with this pirated transmission will be arrested and punished accordingly, and that the criminal elements related to the trafficking will be brought before the court of the People. To those ends, expect an increase in patrols and stakeouts. There will be opportunities to educate yourself in detecting predatory communication. We will be counting on you all to bring down this terrorist group~"

Thus was the scene for Lingyin's next few weeks, making grand promises to her people and allocating resources to deliver on them. At the very least, however, she managed to reassure her people, and herself.

 **-ÎLE-DE-FRANCE, 03:21 LOCAL TIME-**

But France was the opposite. It may be quiet in houses and most shops, before those unfortunate enough to be caught in the graveyard shift, their night just became even more unbearable. Seeing one of the most vile things overtake the pride of the French people, confirmed by the worst possible eyewitness, was just agonizing. Charlotte Dunois was supposed to be given a two year sentence for impersonating a male to enter the IS Academy, but it was reduced to just three months because of her contributions to the fight against Phantom Task, and the fact that she was forced into the Academy by her father. The problem was that just a few days after being placed in prison, she was knocked and smuggled out. No one knew what happened since.

But now they did. They honestly thought that the renegade would have something to do with her disappearance, but it was just revealed that he had nothing to do with it. And yet there were some people who, inevitably, tried to spin the story the wrong way, especially those who thought negatively of the Dunois family. Among those listed in the memos of who to execute operations were the Corsican mafia, who repeatedly voiced their dissent of the Dunois family. In fact, that document specifically detailed how moles were sent to the prison Charlotte was in and disable her body and mind.

And one of the members took offense to their cover being blown. He scurried out of the cafe shop he saw the livestream in, and ran to one of the gang's location. "Hey, guys!" He shouted, "Look at this!"

A mob boss saw the livestream, and merely chuckled, "It's no biggie."

"What do you mean?"

"I anticipated that someone would find out," the boss said, "It's a shame that it had to be the renegade that's exposing us, though."

"What are we gonna do, then?" The mobster asked, "No doubt, a lot of our people are going be in big trouble."

"The solution is simple," the boss opened up his trunk, and tossed him a gun, "We unite before they can."

 **-NATIONAL DIET BUILDING, TOKYO PREFECTURE; 10:20 LOCAL TIME-**

The people of Japan had that exact same mentality. The past few months have been unnerving, at best. Not only did Japan become divided in two thanks to the renegade angering Fuji-san, but now were they finding out that the position of Prime Minister was listed as a direct recipient of the revenue from the world balancing Provision, due to their contributions towards discipline and order amongst the dissenting. Bad timing, too, as the Prime Minister has just finished her questioning by a UN committee.

She met with the Empress, who was showing concerns of her own, "What news of the recovery efforts?"

"Ok," the Empress said, "The Chūbu region is still in its early stages, but the foundation has been set."

"And what of the...thing..."

"He has done the unthinkable...I may be forced to resign..."

"I see...well, if you do..."

"I know..." the Empress muttered before sending the Prime Minister away. She took one breath to steady her mind, then turned to face the UN committee's wrath.

The Prime Minister herself traveled around the region, surveying the current state of the impact zone. The greenery was beyond reversible, but the dust and ash had been completely wiped from the streets. There only remained the cleaning efforts and the rebuilding. The Minister simply could not comprehend what the renegade has done in less than one year. He was the person who came closest to obliterating Japan. He reunited a terrorist group thought to have been eradicated. And most of all, he got his hands on something he shouldn't have seen and exposed it to a world too feeble to understand her true intentions. She planned to eliminate the yakuza by framing the disappearance of the pilots on them. But now, she will need other measures for containing the inevitable public outcry.

First, a call to the yakuza. She dialed the number and waited for the monotone, "Hello?"

"Who is this?" A different voice answered.

"The Swan," The Prime Minister said, "I demand to see your leader."

"Oh, no. My father will have none of your dealings."

"What?! Why?!"

"We always knew you would betray your deal. The documents released by the renegade merely proves that point."

"Is this how I should expect payment for bailing you out of prison?! You were in our debt, mind you!"

"A life for a life. It is now repaid. Do not call us again, or I will personally order a hit against you and the Empress."

Call disconnected; number no longer exists.

"Damned little...enough of this crap!" the Prime Minister had enough. She was tired of the renegade ruining her plans to enact the very agenda that the Empress fought long and hard for. Now, she was determined to have her way, even if...actually, ESPECIALLY WHEN it meant extreme measures. She took out a flip phone and made one more call,

"Yes, this is she. It's time. Do it!"

 **-BROADWATER HOT SPRINGS FITNESS, LEWIS CLARK COUNTY; 19:24 LOCAL TIME-**

"So, how did it go?" A yakuza member asked.

"Rather well," was the answer they were given.

"Well, not that it's of any consequence to us," Tasuko leaned back against the hot steam rising from the pool, "We already have everything we need to move to the next phase of our plan."

"And we'll be using them as the fuel for the people?" Tasuko's son went in the pool to join his father.

"Oh, of course," Tasuko looked back at the sauna, "That Streamline can think on its own, right? Then we just need to put on a show of our own."

That sauna contained Cecilia, Chelsea, and Autumn being subjected to continuous raping and endless orgasming, all while the men were slapping and mocking them for thinking that they could ever reach any paragon that men hadn't already achieved. While all three were lost to their control collars rather easily, Autumn was screaming curses while she was continually defiled, Cecilia kept screaming for a savior to rescue her, and Chelsea was...gone.

"And what of that cancer bitch?" A henchman asked.

"She's off by her lonesome," Tasuko said, "Give it time, and we'll trap her as well."

But while they were too busy making an absolute mess of their new playthings, there's a reason they fell so easily.

 **-REFLECTION POOL-**

Their true consciousnesses were safely stored in IS subspace, where they had a little training session of their own.

"Enough..." Chelsea and her IS were completely drained of all their strength, and her , "I can't go on any longer..."

"You have to!" Autumn kept bombarding her with wind blades, "You're no longer a side character in this goddamn plot! You're on the frontline now! Act like it!" She kept blowing back until Chelsea's armor has been shredded off.

Cecilia rushed to Chelsea's defense, using one of her drones to shield them from Autumn while pummeling the Shinomure with the other, "Come on, this is no time to slack off!"

"Did the renegade have to-UGH-pull his muscles?!" Chelsea winced.

"All of them, on way too many occasions..." Cecilia groaned as she leaped out and fired at a rapidly-approaching Shinomure. She caught it right after taking off, but struggled to keep a good grapple on it. She was forced to release Autumn when the wind gusts sliced her wings off, but Chelsea came in that instant to take Autumn's wings off and thrust her saber right into her chest.

"God!" Cecilia froze at the sight of the saber's red tip, "Fucking overkill?!"

"No..." Autumn, shockingly enough, yanked Chelsea's saber in further, "She hasn't killed me enough!" She kneed Chelsea in the gut and keeled her over.

"Ugh..." Chelsea was struggling to hold her fluids in, "What's that for..."

"Sokoto just made the biggest bust of the century! I'll be damned if I'm caught slacking off on his ass!" Autumn blasted as much air out of her wings as possible, but was interrupted by Cecilia's sudden rifle blast.

"It's different for me!" Cecilia shouted while blasting away at both Chelsea and Autumn, "First Ichika, then Sokoto...I've just about had it with relying on men to do the job for me!" She kept firing away, forcing Chelsea to swipe her sword out of Autumn and deflect every single shot.

And Autumn was still not dead, "The hell's with you two?! Get the fuck outta your shells already!"

By the time the bombshell broadcast had begun, the three had already demonstrated astonishing mastery of the subspace's capabilities. They were training to become a more unified, ruthless team, all in order to overcome their own bodies once the control collars come off. They quickly realized the foundation for personal strengthening that the renegade had already laid for them, and even quicker to capitalize on it now that they had their own space to themselves. All they could hope for now was that Madoka somehow got the message from the renegade.

 **-YELLOWPINE GENERAL STORE, VALLEY COUNTY; 19:33 LOCAL TIME-**

Madoka got it loud and clear. As soon as she heard the radio broadcast, she immediately went to this unincorporated census-designated area to find a certain someone. She entered the area in a much better mood than she thought possible, mainly because she knew the renegade hadn't lost sight of his true goals. But she was concerned about Daryl and Forte's interference. She didn't know if they would lead him on, of if he would lead them on just to walk into their trap.

The quiet atmosphere somewhat calmed her concerns. A small gathering surrounded by trees seemed like the perfect place to settle down. She didn't mind the houses being lower-quality; the only thing that mattered was that she got to sleep in it for as long as she wanted. But now was definitely not the time, especially when-

"BOO!"

"COCK-TOBERFEST!" Madoka yelped.

"Oh? That's an interesting reaction."

"Geez, Fairs! Why?!"

"I've always expected you to slap me, but not yelp!"

"JUST TAKE ME TO YOUR PLACE ALREADY!"

Lucky the area was small and everything was within walking distance. Madoka settled in, with tea, a footrest, and a view of the Main Street from the garage, with time to spare a conversation with a woman whose long, wavy blonde hair she recognized, "Whew...sorry to bother you at all time like this..."

"No problem," the woman plopped herself down on the chair beside her, "It's the least I can do for you. You sure do know how to keep a secret."

"Making people think you're dead is my specialty, apparently..." Madoka mused, "So, why are you settled here?..."

"It's my hometown. I never get tired of the peace and quiet here."

"Really? You were born in this backwater town?"

"Yep. I still remember exactly how my head got stuck during my birthing!"

"Ok, Natasha! TMI!"

"Heeheehee...funnier seeing you act like this."

"Ugh...you have you know who to blame for that..."

"Is it because I ran to comfort him after your episode with Autumn?"

"How did y-wait, no, that'll take too long."

"Yep. Black box, darling. But that's not why you're here, is it? What's the favor?"

"*SIGH*...I just had to ask..."

Yep, Natasha Fairs didn't die. After the discovery of the damning information, she and the Silver Gospel tried to flee back to the IS Academy, only to have a run in with the old Phantom Task not ten seconds after escaping from Tabane's lair. She bargained with them: leave the Gospel alone, and they get her, but Tabane arrived to ruin negotiations. And, extremely complicated and way too long a story made short, Tabane hijacked the Gospel to enhance its abilities and run on a rampage, she got away, and Phantom Task wondered where Natasha went. Madoka automatically said that she killed Natasha by letting her be vaporized by the Gospel. They knew that the time would come for Natasha to repay that debt, but it wouldn't be until much later. Now was the opportune time, it seemed.

 **-NO NAME KEY, MONROE COUNTY; 21:39 LOCAL TIME-**

And not a moment too late, because the renegade had already combed through the entire compound three times. No sign of Claire, Daryl, or any of the Phantom Task members. Charlotte was the only person he recognized, and he saw her running from men, with a crapload of women right behind her.

"Has that bimbo lost her mind?! Again?!" Sokoto whispered.

"Renegade, come in! Do you hear me?" Chifuyu's voice suddenly pierced his private channel.

"Yow! Demon woman?!"

"DEMO-never mind. Stay where you are! We're coming to you!"

"Raid or rescue, 'cuz one of them's an idiot!"

"Ha? What are you talking about?!"

"There's one more person I have to find, but I can't!"

"You have any way of tracking her?"

"Yeah, but it's busted. Too many nasty auras blending together, feels like one collective aura of BLECH."

"Uhhh, what?"

"Wait, why do you care now?"

"Why's that matter to you?!"

"Because you never aid the enemy! You're aiding the enemy! What gives?!"

"I don't need to explain myself to you!"

"Oh, yes you do. Because, who's watching Sean's back?!"

"What, that big f...oh, shit..." Chifuyu just realized what she left behind.

"And let me guess," Sokoto growled, "We're all gonna be caught by someone worse than Singsing."

 **-DUNKIN' DONUTS, 21:40-**

Sean was the first to get caught. Since he dismissed the residents from the set right after Chifuyu and Xingjia left him, he had no one to defend him or his crew in the face of armed authorities. Silvia was incapable of manipulating electronic objects until she could rejoin her metal body, so she could be sent back into standby mode if the van was destroyed.

And no one wanted to destroy that van more than the three headaches, hovering above the set.

"Well, well, well," the de facto leader taunted, "Looky what we have here."

"Oh, crapsicles..." Sean muttered, "Just what are you on about?"

"I'm afraid I'm on orders to shut this operation down," the woman said, "Now, all of you, come with us."

"And what grounds have you to arrest us?" Sean tried to called her bluff.

And, given her ego, she easily fell for it, "On the grounds that you're all arrogant windbags who think your lies would sway the election in your favor!"

"Did you not hear me talk about how it's already been invalidated?!" Sean shouted.

"Scaring away the voters, as usual," the leader signaled her squad to begin the attack, "Maya! Nami! Take them down!"

"Guys, grab onto something!" Sean grabbed the nearest light stand and prepared to fight.

The other pilots charged their Gatling guns and aimed at the van.

"Silvia! Can you do anything?!" A cameraman stammered.

"No! I'm not linked to onii-chan! I can't defend you guys!" Silvia disappeared from the pilots' view.

"Should've kept those ads..." Sean muttered.

The pilots unloaded their bullets onto the van, and everyone near it. Sean was about to take the full force of the attack, but it was halted altogether at the last minute, by a watery barrier.

"What th-" a pilot realized whose barrier that was, "Hey, Aiko! That Sarashiki girl's here!"

"I know..." Aiko said, then descended to the ground to meet the woman who stopped her attack.

"Uh, why are you here?" Sean asked, puzzled as to why someone of Tatenashi's caliber would come to his aid.

And why she brought along her demonic look-alike.

"You have a mission given to you, do you not?" Forte asked him.

"You just watch the broadcast," Tatenashi assured him, "We'll handle the ungrateful asshats."

"Uh..." Silvia was dumbstruck, but went along with the situation as she also had Sokoto to worry about. Sean motioned his crew to come back to the van and keep broadcasting the events of the hour.

Aiko saw Forte and Tatenashi step in between her squad and the van. "Don't fucking dare!" She saw them bring down the barrier and ready their weapons, "Don't FUCKING dare!"

Tatenashi configured her lance into an all-range weapon, and Forte finished charging her scythe's One-Off Ability.

"Missy, missy, come here, you fat mouthed little stupid bitch!" Aiko had enough. She dropped to the ground and confronted Tatenashi directly, "You're pissing around with someone that's not worth our time! Has that fucking clicked?!"

"Define, "worth our time,"" Tatenashi taunted, "By "our," I mean yours."

"HE'S FUCKING MALE! HE WOULDN'T EXIST IF WE HADN'T DEIGNED OUTSELVES TO BIRTHING AND RAISING SUCH AN UNNECESSARY WASTE OF SPACE!"

"And yet, a woman loved a man enough to conceive him."

"I thought your family was different from th-" bullets in her face "-AAAAGH!"

"Sorry!" They came from Tatenashi's lance, "Caught you monologing!"

"Rrrrgg-BRING THEM ALL DOWN!"

"Finally!" Forte stretched, "I was wondering when you were done yapping..." The instant she swung her scythe down to massage her right shoulder, the Freeze Lance activated, sending piercing ice crystals right at Aiko, which prompted Tatenashi to fire her Gatling gun at Maya and Nami.

"What's happening?!" Silvia screamed from inside the van, "What are they doing out there?!"

"Well, two pilots came to save us," the cameraman answered.

"What did they look like?"

"Blue hair, blue ISs..."

"Oh, God help us all..." Silvia anticipated the operation going horribly wrong from just this bit of chaos alone.

"How are the connections?" A crewman screamed.

"Uh...still good! We're linked with the..." Silvia was momentarily stopped when she re-stabilized herself and felt her connection branching off from the satellite, "...world..."

"What the-"

"You don't listen, do you..." Sean decided to keep an eye on the renegade for the remainder of the show, "Renegade, come in!" No answer, as he saw on the projector the environment of the compound moving faster. He tried to contact again, "Renegade, have you been caught?"

"Hello, again," but Chifuyu came through, " He's busy at the moment, so I'm piggybacking off your signals."

"What's the situation?"

"Thanks to Xingjia trying to kill me right when I'm near the Key, they know we're here, and they think that I brainwashed him, or some shit like that."

"Crap, now what? If we call for reinforcements, they'll likely kill the girls."

"Where are you now, exactly?"

"Somewhere inside..." Chifuyu was deep inside the compound trying to find the renegade, " I had to flee the deranged asstwat, but I can't find the renegade anywhere..."

"Did he get caught?..."

Sokoto did, but only after the men realized that the Brunhilde has come to the island. But by then, he's already moved the operation ahead of schedule, deploying everything except the wings to take out the captors and use their fingers to pop the collars off. Many of the women he freed were already beyond saving, but there were a few who still had their sanities intact.

Such as another Asian pilot.

"Ok," Sokoto muttered, "you're outta here..."

"Ugh..." the woman groaned, "Wait...you're a pilot, too?"

"Yeah," Sokoto said, "Name's Sokoto. And you?"

"Kim Ha-Yoon..."

"Uh, did they get rid of your clothes?"

"Yes, long before I arrived here... I was supposed to be on a recon mission from my homeland..."

"That turned out well..." Sokoto finished freeing the last of the captives in the current room, "Can you use your IS?"

"No...they suppressed it...I'm nothing more than a rag doll now..."

"Then, you're gonna lead them outta here," Sokoto smashed the control collars to dust, "I'll focus the muscle heads on me."

"Uh...ok..." Yoon meekly said.

"Good," Sokoto didn't give her any time to rest, "Go!" As soon as he kicked the door down, a horde of burly men swarmed into the room, but Sokoto made very short work of them, knocking them all out with a well-timed energy blast to each of their heads. Yoon pushed the women out and led them down a dirty hallway. Each step they took only led more people to the group, making everyone else nervous. Right before they could reach the entrance point, many of the women had a breakdown right in the middle of a massive corridor.

"No!" Yoon was forced to stop and try to pick them back up, "No, no no no, not now!"

"Not now, what, litttle bitch?"

"What th-AAAAAAGH!" Yoon was caught by the ringleader of the island.

"Betcha thought you were home free after you messed with several of my men, huh!" He yanked her up by the hair and held a knife to her neck, sending everyone else in a panic. "EVERYONE SHUT UP!"

Sokoto has just finished bearing up a man when he heard that shout. "Aw, free Strokemeister!"

"Who was that?" Xingjia stood guard at the entrance, but then she heard the loud command as well. Both she and Sokoto ran to investigate the commotion. They ran through two halls before bumping into each other, "Hey! Watch it!"

"Really?" Sokoto quipped before bringing her to the one thing she was dreading, "Never you mind, LOOK!" They saw the ringleader hold Yoon hostage, with several other men holding guns to the women.

"How dare you!" Xingjia shouted, "Is this your way of declaring a new world order?!"

"The old order was perfect until you breasts-for-brains asscucks ruined everything!" The man shouted, "Now, you and that blonde freak! Get down or you'll all get it!"

Sokoto and Xingjia were forced to kneel on the ground. Two men came up from behind and gave them Cancellers.

"Shit!" Xingjia cursed, seeing as how the men will unleash on them all if she so much as moves a finger, "What now?!"

"Lemme see, thinking..." Sokoto ran his mind through any possible way to avoid any unnecessary spilt blood, until he sensed an aura that wasn't authentic, "Oh, they're gonna self destruct."

"Huh?" Xingjia didn't believe him, "And how do you feel that would-"

"Still talking, are you?" The leader was eyeing them for the entire exchange, "I got something special for you," he then motioned his henchman to come forward, "Bring her here!"

The henchmen brought over a leash, then yanked it, forcing the unfortunate soul to come forward and reveal herself to the captive women. It was Charlotte, whom they managed to recapture and leash, after an injection of drug, causing her to lose control of her crotch. All of the woman gripped each other's hands to prepare for their looming deaths.

"No..." Xingjia gasped, "I thought she got out..."

"Heheheh," the ringleader grinned, "she was a handful...not really, but now she answers to me, and me alone."

"Must...obey...master's...commands..." Charlotte endlessly murmured, never once changing that expression of painfully ecstasy.

"That's right, you must," the ringleader rubbed his pants, "You know you want it, don't you?"

"I want it! I want it!" Charlotte screamed in agony.

"Don't you dare defile her!" Xingjia shouted, but a stray bullet knicked at her barrier, reminding her of the men's control over the situation.

"Heh, just like the other whores," the ringleader snapped at Charlotte, "Okay, Charlotte. Just kill that woman over there, and you can have it."

"Yes, master..." Charlotte answered.

"No..." Xingjia stared in horror as Charlotte crept closer to her, gun deployed and fully loaded. "Listen...you don't have to do this!" She screamed while trying to wrest the Canceller off, "Think of the girls who look up to you! What would they say if they saw you doing this?!"

"I don't care! All that matters is master's promise!" Charlotte touched her gun to Xingjia's head. Xingjia cowered as she waited for the bullets to spurt out and end the tension.

It did end. But not as anyone, except Sokoto, intended. Charlotte quickly turned the gun on the ringleader and killed him. She held the trigger and spun around trying to kill as many men as possible. Daryl and Chifuyu suddenly popped up from behind Sokoto and Xingjia, and took the remaining captors. The entire room fell silent for not knowing what just happened.

"Oh, I missed you, master!" Charlotte shoved herself into Sokoto and "suffocated" him.

"Good to see you too..." Sokoto muffled through her chest.

"I can tell yours is much better!" Charlotte drolled on, "You haven't forgotten your promise, have you?"

"CAN'T BREATHE!" Sokoto pushed himself off her and collapsed on his knees to give himself time to catch his breath, "Let's just focus on getting out of here..."

"Is this the first time you needed someone to wipe your ass?" Daryl quipped.

Sokoto was a bit embarrassed to hear her call him out, "Well, not in that se-"

"I meant Chinaberry over there," Daryl corrected him.

"Says the woman who...oh, I give up..." Xingjia was out of mental strength and just wanted this nightmare to end.

"Uh...maybe stay down here for a little longer?" Sokoto suggested.

"Why would we stay in the devil's dick hole?" Chifuyu demanded, before she heard explosions go off above them, "What the-"

"Silvia? Sean?" Sokoto opened communication to the van, "What's going on?" No answer, "You pick now to malfunction..."

Suddenly, the entryway was bombarded with rockets. The shockwaves they emitted collapsed the entry corridor in a massive pile of concrete, effectively trapping everyone inside. Sokoto already had in mind to blast open a new entrance, but he was immediately paralyzed from an unexpected aural flood of fear, confusion, and scrambled brains.

Everyone was sent into a panic. The victims thought they would die, Chifuyu racked her head trying to ease the women's minds, Daryl had to hold down Charlotte's sudden migraine, and Xingjia had herself a mental breakdown.

Sokoto, however, was nonplussed. Actually, he was aggravated, blurting out while tearing off his Canceller, "Well, shit, dick, piss, ass, cock, and cum! I had no idea I had such a fucking pacing issue!"


	4. Where Is This Going

_Part 4: Where Is This Going..._

 **-BUCKINGHAM PALACE, GREATER LONDON CEREMONIAL COUNTY; 02:33 LOCAL TIME-**

Rachel Weaver had just finished recuperating from the shock of the Canada battle. She was somewhat relieved to hear that Cecilia had been done in by a brutal gang rape, but all that satisfaction went out the other end when she saw the broadcast that the renegade hatched with Hannity. The renegade has gained more credibility due to his discovery the missing French pilot, and no doubt he would be gunning for the missing British pilot. She had in mind to track him down and bring him straight to the UN, but then she was summoned to the palace. At too early a morning. She was guided to the fountain in front of the palace, where the Queen herself had insisted she and Rachel meet on their own. When Rachel finally met with the Queen,

"You're dismissed," the Queen sent the guards back to their stations, leaving Rachel alone to face the Highness's wrath.

"You summoned me at this hour, your Highness?" Rachel asked.

The Queen turned her gaze to the grand fountain, the beacon of the palace, "I did." She gently sloshed the water with her hand, "Do you know why I made you our IS Representative?"

"Why?"

"It's because I trusted you to improve our relationship with the Infinite Stratos. I believed you could safeguard our interests while advancing our position within the community of representatives and pilots."

"I can fulfill these obligations, to the utmost," Rachel stated.

"Then, tell me," the Queen suddenly swatted her hand upward, sending some water out of the fountain and into a window, "Why did you attempt to kill Cecilia Alcott right after declaring her excommunicado?"

"She allied herself with the enemy," Rachel answered, "She brought this upon herself."

"She allied herself with the renegade...right after being declared excommunicado...right after she was forced into rape?" The Queen caught the bluff.

"I was not made aware of that last part."

"Oh? Were you not made aware of the testimony the Canadian Prime Minister gave after the pageant?"

"What testimony?"

The Queen then tapped her phone in her pocket, and it played a very loud recording:

"There was an attempt to keep the kidnappings hidden from the public eye. Were you acting alone?"

"No. I had an accomplice."

"Can you name that person?"

"Rachel Weaver."

The Queen shut the phone off. "Prior to the Top Gun pageant," she continued, "you met with the prime minister for an extended period of time, well beyond what you were allotted. Would this be the subject of that meeting?"

Rachel was unfettered, "It was not. It is obviously an attempt to undermine us, since Canada has always been on shaky terms with us pertaining to the IS."

"I should think so..." the Queen walked up to Rachel, "In the very short time you've had the prestigious title, you proved yourself to be very self-centered."

"Are you equating me to that Alcott woman?" Rachel growled.

"What do you think?"

"I think you have to keep in mind where I stand on issues like these."

"In other words, blindly trust you? Without question?"

Rachel kept silent.

The Queen finished, "You've already betrayed my trust once. You know what will happen if you do it again. Would you like to see the benefits I have as a figurehead?"

"No...that won't be necessary..." Rachel muttered.

"The IS Institute opens in 17 hours," the Queen commanded, "You would be wise to secure its foundation."

"Understood, your Highness..." Rachel bowed and let the guards escort her out. She was well composed on the outside, but her inside was boiling with rage. She couldn't believe that the person who gave her the highest honor in the land doubted her intentions. She had to think of a way to get back at the Queen, either winning her over with her vast knowledge and her resourcefulness as a practical woman, or by hostile takeover of her ideals. Rachel walked away, more determined to make her ideal life a reality.

The Queen sat on the bench beside the fountain and stared at the flowing water, which had already regained its original gentle flow after she thrashed it. The scene made her realize something about the renegade, "Well, there's the first step..." she triggered her cellphone to replay the Opening Monologue, then closed her eyes and absorbed every word that came out of those speakers, "So, you chose this route...you forget that you must earn my crown, not take it..."

 **-DUNKIN' DONUTS, MONROE COUNTY; 21:57 LOCAL TIME-**

"So, just to wrap this up, with all that's been revealed, for one thing, I think the election isn't gonna matter because it's been far too influenced by people who don't know what subtlety is," Sean was doing his final segment before ending the broadcast, "And clearly you can tell from what almost happened to me that there are radical women and men who would rather see the world turn over than find a way to coexist with the Infinite Stratos, even though Phantom Task And the renegade, who have by now earned two death penalties per person, have found ways to coexist with the very people sent to take them down! How is this possible? Well, I'll check in one last time with the person who vowed to bring the renegade to justice. She is currently inside the begotten compound with so many hostages I'm surprised the actual police haven't shown up yet. Chifuyu, come in. Can you hear me?"

"Yep, a little busy here," Chifuyu came through, though fuzzy and exhausted sounding, "Relax, it's going to be okay. We'll get you out of here soon."

"Uh...how exactly is that going to happen?"

"Not sure. I'm busy trying to comfort as many women as I can, Daryl and Charlotte are playing Keep Away: Porn Edition, Xingjia is mentally decommissioned, and the renegade just took a woman somewhere else."

"Oh my-did he abandon you?! I told him not to-"

"Not exactly. We're sealed in thanks to the main entryway collapsing on itself. I think he's gonna blow us another way out."

"Good. Man, I was this close to bashing him."

"Get in line."

"Well, we're running low on power and signal strength, so I'll have to end transmission in the Vaca Key. Stay safe, Chifuyu and everyone else still waiting to get back home. Renegade, everyone has a right to life, so please don't stomp on it. And to everyone else watching from the safety of home, we need prayers, cards, shares, donations to charity, whatever you can to help bring this issue to the forefront, please don't let anyone ignore or alter it. That's it for me, and from all of us at Hannity, we wish you a safe and happy night. This is it for us! So...good bye, and Laura Ingraham! The Ingraham Angle is up next. I can't tell if she's shocked or the screen is frozen...nope, we just lost connection. Well, best of luck to you, Laura. From all of us at Hannity, we wish you all good night, good luck, and goodbye."

At that point, Silvia was drained of her strength, too weak to hold the signal, and collapsed on a small patch of grass. A crewman dropped his boom mic and ran to her aid, placing his cell phone on her sprite body to restore her consciousness. She slowed her breathing and muttered, "To...onii-chan...we..."

Sean saw her and rushed to her side. He placed his cell phone on the crewman's, "What's she saying?"

"Go to...him..." Silvia muttered.

"Oh, no..." Sean groaned, "We are so dead..."

"What? Are we actually going to the..." the crewman dreaded the thought.

"Yep, we have to," Sean said, "I don't think I can trust the renegade, or the Brunhilde anymore."

"Dude! We are going to-" the crewman stopped short of Sean taking both phones and connecting them to the equipment in the van.

"Everyone inside now!" Sean shouted, "We got one last job to do!"

"Ever heard of METOO versus MGTO?!" The writer stammered.

"I know we're accelerating that, and I don't care! Now, let's go!"

 **-NO NAME KEY; 22:05 LOCAL TIME-**

Sokoto dragged Yoon out of the pity party to find an escape route, "This is the Canceller?"

"Yes, I think so..." Yoon muttered, "My IS is a garter belt in standby mode, so..."

"Got it!" Sokoto grabbed a metal contraption that didn't fit in with the rest of the garter belt and crushed it with his hand, "Ok, now can you deploy?"

"I think so..." Yoon concentrated her mind on her IS and bringing it out of hibernation. However, she was frequently attacked by vivid flashes of her most recent torture, "AAAAAAAAGH! NOOOOOOO!"

Sokoto deciphered her current aura, "Hey, hey...the bad guys are gone now, they can't hurt you anymore...just focus on you..."

"Ok! Ok! Uh..." Yoon shut her eyes and concentrated really hard on herself. She spent five minutes blocking out her troubles and staying in her comfort zone. She thought about her family, her friends, her home country, and a lot of happy memories; and that fact that she would never be able to experience them again brought her to tears. But it was that very thought that awakened her IS from slumber and towered over Sokoto, "Huh?! What just happened?!"

"I don't know what's more aggravating," Sokoto whispered while witnessing the IS enter its 1st Shift, the Eundunja Bocho sniper IS, "The fact that that IS is twice as tall as mine, or that it was woken up with moldy overused cheese..."

"I...I did it!" Yoon shouted in elation, "I can move it again!"

"Good," Sokoto interrupted her, "Now aim your rifle thataway."

"Huh?! What are we doing?!"

"Creating an escape route and a fuck-you route," Sokoto said, "Speaking of fuck yous, what's everyone else doing?"

Managing their consciences with unfavorable results. The many ground shaking explosions above wasn't helping either.

"Dammit, renegade! What are you up to?!" Chifuyu stammered as she struggled to keep the women's psyches under control. She saw the renegade drag a young Korean woman away from the group, leaving her alone to tend to the women. Which hit a bit too close to home for her, given how she had to comfort Ichika after his first brush with the old Phantom Task so many years ago. The very clear difference was, unlike Ichika who was freed before he could be permanently broken, and was the only one who was captured, these women were very obviously beyond repair, and very numerous. "Shit...Charlotte! Get over here and-"

"Charlotte is very busy at the moment!" Daryl has been struggling to keep Charlotte away from her backyard, "I told you! Wait!"

"Oh my god..." Chifuyu muttered. She was at her wit's end. She couldn't use the Kurazakura for fear of striking an innocent. And who was going to get these women out, when she was the only sane person there, trapped in a madhouse of bad emotions? She was about to go crazy when she was suddenly tapped on the shoulder. "WHHAAATTTT?!"

"Um...we have an escape plan?" It was Sokoto.

"Oh..." Chifuyu was embarrassed to have came back to her senses in front of him, "well, what's it?"

"Couple things," Sokoto yanked Yoon over to Chifuyu, "One: she's a pilot. Two: we've marked that wall over there as the safest area for you to bust open an escape route without hurting any of them, but you'll have to wait 10 seconds after I bust open that ceiling over there and get their attention. We found a gun cache, but it's empty, so expect bullets aplenty when you set foot outside." Then, he just darted away without warning, "Well, gotta go!"

"Huh?!" Chifuyu stammered, "Go where?!"

"To my spot!" Sokoto shouted, "Just a few minutes until gear time!"

Chifuyu was about to protest him going, but the misty air created from all the sweat and...fluid...clouded her vision, and her mind.

"You couldn't at least wave her bye?"

And her ears. For a split second,

"I'm not gonna wave bye when I'll see her again in half an hour!"

she saw Ichika running side-by-side with Sokoto.

"Says the guy who couldn't tell a mohawk from a chicken's comb!"

Barely seven years old, cracking jokes,

"You got a nosebleed from staring at your sister's behind! What are you talking about?!"

and looking eerily similar to each other. Literally, the only difference between them was their hair.

Chifuyu rubbed her eyes and blinked until the most was gone. When she looked again, younger Ichika and Sokoto were gone. Just regular Sokoto remained, fully deployed and waiting to signal the start of the escape. She wanted to snap at him, but she had to admit that he held more composure (and authority) than everyone else combined. She didn't allow herself to dwell on that, however, as she turned her attention to the ever deteriorating sanities of the group. She knew she had to bring them all under control, but there was only one way she knew how, and she only reserved that for her instructor days, to students who dared to deliberately disrespect her. But if there's one thing she learned from the renegade, it's that you can't think or talk for too long. She closed her eyes and centered her thoughts on herself, and took a big whiff of polluted air...

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU RATCHET CUNT PIECES OF SUGAR-BLOATED ANAL SCUM!"

Silence. Silence so dead, Lingyin could feel it.

"OR ELSE I'LL TEAR YOUR ASSES OFF AND FORCE ALL YOU TO SHIT DOWN YOUR OWN THROATS!"

Sokoto felt the sudden aural freeze, "Woo, that felt good. Alright...just have to wait for it..."

"Hoy...finally!" Chifuyu breathed refreshed of her much-needed outburst, "That chip was so heavy..." She massaged her shoulders and relaxed her mind. She invoked her instructor persona and let herself loose on the women here,

"Let me just say for the record that I don't know a god damn thing about being in torture or losing someone to torture, but I know that y'all are too wasted on your own juice to care about it! And that's not the way you should be acting! You make have lost your brains and, god forbid, your bodies, but it doesn't stop you using your heart! I had someone go to the finals of the Second Mondo Grosso who broke her fucking legs off! She went on to win the fucking competition! Better yet, I know someone who was tortured for a whole week, and stuck it out without flinching an inch! If losing some flesh isn't worse than...this, I don't know what to say. Except, if you've given up on life, then stay down here and have sex with the fleas, while the rest of us actually go down fighting for freedom! Now, hurry up and decide! Stay down and die here, or fucking fight back!"

No one dared move, lest they endure her wrath. That speech triggered bad memories of Daryl's time undercover at the IS Academy, when she got caught sabotaging another student's training IS and suffered a hundred lashes for it. Yoon, Xingjia, and Charlotte froze for some reason. But the women were terrified, what little of their brains remained clearly traumatized by another woman's realism shattering their dream world. They all had a choice to make and, judging from the sound of the explosions above, not a lot of time to make it. They all stood up and chose life, if only for the sake of not being punished further.

"Oh, wow. That was easier than I thought..." Chifuyu mumbled, realizing that the control collars made their minds easier to manipulate, "Now, listen up, all of you! Whatever you were told about the renegade, forget about it. He's already marked a spot on the wall that's weakest so that we can get out. Right now, he's somewhere else waiting to burst out of the compound and distract all those bad guys so that we can sneak through their gun showers and run to safety, but obviously, we can't do that with all of you whining your assess off! So, everyone with and IS will act as protection for those without and IS! You, Korean and Chinese, take point! Charlotte, with me in the rear! Everyone else, form four lines and meet me at that spot!" She turned around to prepared, but she didn't hear any footsteps. Only when she unleashed her Kurazakura did the entourage finally get the message and start moving, "God, finally..."

Slowly but surely, the women formed single file lines. During the silent formation, Daryl tried to sneak under Chifuyu's nose, only to get caught in her vice grip.

"Got a moment?" Chifuyu growled.

"What?" Daryl smirked, feigning contempt to hide her fear, "Are you mad that I was his first?"

Chifuyu gently pricked Daryl's shirt, "I can take it by force, too, you know."

"Oh, that hurts, doesn't it? The pain of secondhand rape..."

"What are you after? You wouldn't tag along with that pile of shit unless you were after someone."

"I already have him. I'm just here to make sure it stays that way."

Chifuyu couldn't decide between throwing a fit or just duct taping her brain shut. She released Daryl from her grasp, "Whatever. Ok, Rain, you'll be in the middle of the group, keeping the women in a calm state. If any of them get loose, it'll be your spine." And she just walked off and let her be.

Daryl waited until she was buried in the group to let out a sigh of relief. She honestly did not expect Chifuyu to still be holding a grudge against her. She decided against further confrontation and settled in her role among the crowd, no matter how degrading it was.

While that was going on, Xingjia was just getting over her IS discipline flashbacks when she was approached by Yoon, who was still unsettled from her most recent torture.

"Um...ma'am?" Yoon said meekly.

"Uh!" Xingjia snapped back to reality, "What is it?"

"Well..." Yoon looked down, "this is my first real fight...and I'm not sure if we will make it out al-"

"Stop," Xingjia interrupted, "If you keep thinking like that, you will not make it out alive."

"Well...yes..."

"Look," Xingjia approached her and deployed everything except her arms, "I don't like this any more than you. And...this is the first time for me, too. I'm very scared," she put her hands on Yoon's shoulders, "but the fact of the matter is that this just got bigger than us. These women have been through hell, and there are more across the world. I'm more scared of what'll happen if we fail. For that reason, I can't run. And neither should you."

"Um...ok..." that was just one reason Yoon was a bit freaked out, but she ran with it, "but...the renegade?"

"He'll make sure we go home in one piece," Xingjia said, "He doesn't have a choice."

"Attention, rickle picks!" Sokoto suddenly shouted into the open communication channels, "two and a half minutes before judgement time!"

With that warning, all the women finally assembled in formation. The women have somehow squeezed themselves into four lines, with Daryl buried in the middle. Xingjia and Yoon were wondering why they were leading the rush, while Chifuyu and Charlotte were sparing one last awkward moment in the rear.

"Charlotte..." Chifuyu whispered, "it's me...Do you know me?..."

"Should I know you?" Charlotte said with that wide-eyed wandering look.

"How did you end up on American soil?!..."

"I dunno...all I know is that Master will soon claim my-"

"Ok, ok, forget I asked."

Sokoto could feel the aural cloud from above burning his hair. This was the perfect spot to enact his full wrath, as he dreamt of washing away those harmful auras. He waited for a long minute before the aural cloud swelled.

"Ahhh, my reckoning," Sokoto muttered before calling over the comms, "Everyone in position?!"

"Ready when you are," Chifuyu said.

Sokoto charged his Ignition Boosters and aimed his hook at the ceiling above him, "Departing in 3! 2! 1!"

He fired. The hook stuck to the ceiling and yanked him upward. He burst through using his IB and destroyed that area, collapsing the ceiling and providing a cover for the women in case of a bullet shower.

"That's the signal!" Chifuyu shouted, "Go now!"

Yoon fired multiple mega blasts at the wall. Xingjia used her IS's tail to repeatedly stab away at the crumbling earth, until a passageway was fully opened. Then they led the entire group out of the compound and into the open, screaming their lungs out to warn the incoming pilots about their desperate attempt.

Earning the ire of the men who witnessed the collapse.

"What are they doing out here?!" A man bellowed, "Where's the boss?!"

Sokoto suddenly plopped down on top of several men, "He dead. Like you," and chopped the man's head off.

The rest of the men tried to flee the scene, only to get shot by three incoming pilots, one of which had been eyeing the upstart since Tatenashi backed away from the ground explosion.

"So, the traitor finally shows himself," Aiko slowly descended from behind him, "Just how many women do you plan to subjugate today?"

"As many as I need to run the world out of mindless zombies," Sokoto smirked.

"You dare to mock the females as mindless drones!" Nami flew down to confront him, only to be slammed down to the ground by a hammer heel.

"That's harsh," he said before flipping over and throwing two blasts and an IB stomp on Aiko.

Maya watched the brief exchange from some trees far away from their sight, "Oy...I told you talking wouldn't go anywhere." She moves in immediately to counter the renegade, only to be surprised by Tatenashi's bullet-stab combination attack.

Aiko was infuriated, not only by Sokoto's refusal to take her crap, but also by his inability to sit still for a second, "Why...you...HALF-CHINK!" She unleashed her Shadow Spell ability and flung her giant purple chains at him. But he completely recalled his IS to avoid the Spell's after effects, and use his shield to knock them back. He was able to manipulate them to his advantage, as protection from the projectile bombardments, and as anchor points to propel him to Aiko and finally sock her face multiple times and IB kick her backward.

"RrrgggghrrraaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Aiko has had it. She wildly flung her giant chains around her battle area, not noticing the renegade effortlessly dodging them by himself, or the boatloads of men with guns and rocket launchers.

"Anyone else notice the unnecessary mansplanation over yonder?!" Sokoto took his eyes off Aiko for one second- "PLIkli..." -and smacked himself into her chains.

"They mean nothing to me. It's you I want to kill," Aiko squeezed him hard, but a pair of missiles destroyed some of the chains, releasing Sokoto from their grasp.

Sokoto tried to flee, but he became their new target, and it was only a second before he got caught in their net gun, "Ack! WHERE DO THEY KEEP GETTING THESE HEAVY DUTY WEAPONS?!"

"Stay out of this!" Aiko changed targets, "He's mine!"

"You and what army, bitch?!" The men pummeled her with firepower, but she was able to swat them away with her chains.

"Ok, those chains are kryptonite..." Sokoto fully deployed to break out of the net, "Chifuyu, how're we doing?!"

"They don't know I'm here, but the popsicle heads aren't making things any better!" Chifuyu commented on how the group had to repeatedly deflect stray bullets and rockets away from the women.

"Can't we just take them out and be done with it?!" Xingjia was juggling with protecting the group and firing back at the hoards of men.

Aiko somehow caught wind of that exchange, "No...she's the physical manifestation of female independence...Why would she converse with the plague of society?!" She turned off her brain and allowed her rage to take control, "YOU ARE A FAKER!" She aimed her gun at Chifuyu, but a sudden hook shot to her neck caused her to fire at Yoon.

"Look out!" Xingjia quickly made use of her IS's Shield Expansion one-off ability and took all the bullets onto herself.

"Are you ok?!" Yoon shouted.

"Yeah...this is nothing..." Xingjia grunted.

"Eep! She's coming over!" Yoon immediately fired her sniper at Aiko. She got a headshot on her target, which allowed Sokoto to follow up with a barrage of punches and kicks.

"Charlotte, watch your tail end!" Chifuyu screamed after barely deflecting all incoming fire.

"There's so many out there," Charlotte let her mind run wild with...fantasies... "I wonder if I could sample their wares..."

"Mother of all f-" Chifuyu was about to scream, but that random thought gave her an idea, "Actually, you can! Go out to them as fast as you can! They like it when you bombrush them!"

"Yay!" Charlotte darted off in the direction of fire and literally whored herself out, crashing the men's weapons and attention in the process and opening them to an attack from the pilots.

"Ugh...well, as long as it gets the job done..." Chifuyu muttered, then checked her radar, "four rocket launchers at two and nine o'clock! Brainwashed pilots on my seven!"

Xingjia and Yoon blasted away at the target areas, but they only succeeded in pushing the rockets away from them. Many pilots started to emerge from the outskirts of the Keys and began to swarm the island with bullets and bombs. Many more troops of men stormed the grounds in an attempt to kill everyone on site. Soon, the entire island was lit with the spark of powder.

Sokoto noticed the aural shift while avoiding every single thing, "Seriously! Where's all this coming from?!"

"I don't know!" Chifuyu shouted, "It's like everyone and their grandpa is in on it! We can't move an inch!"

Suddenly, Tatenashi interrupted their frequency and updated them on the situation, "It's the immediate result of that Hannity episode. The male-dominated gangs and mobs felt severely threatened by the renegade that they've called every single asset to put him down. The plan was to use him as an idol, but now it's changed drastically."

"Should I change plans too and skewer you?!" Chifuyu couldn't believe that Tatenashi would stick her nose in this business, "Where are you, dickhole?!"

"I wouldn't do that if I-AGH!"

"Hey! Tata! What's the matter?!" Sokoto momentarily got distracted and shrieked. That split second was enough to get him caught by a control collar, "URK...have to-" he yanked it off right when the needle entered his neck and suffered excruciating pain, "AAAAAAAAAGH-" he was immediately pinned down by Aiko.

"Finally... I finally have you!" Aiko slammed her chains down on Sokoto, knocking away at his shield and his mind until he was fully dazed. She stopped when she noticed that he wasn't moving and walked over to him, "Look at that. The primitive state of man. Now, do you see how futile your insurrection is?" She noticed his hand twitching, shaking with each explosion, "And yet, you still defy your natural order. Fine." She readied her chains and guns, "You will have no salvation from death! Now you will pay!"

Before she could strike, several rockets rained down and destroyed her chains. Aiko topples over and saw the entourage of pilots randomly shooting everywhere.

Forte was dealing with Nami when she was struck with friendly fire, "Uh, I think we found the rest of them!"

"What are you doing, you fucking bitches?!" One of the men shouted, "You're supposed to shoot the Brunhilde!"

"Change of plans," his boss said through his phone, "You're too much of a liability to be kept alive."

"Did any of you catch that?!" Tatenashi shouted, "It's everyone for themselves!" She withdrew her lance and created a water shield for herself. She constantly moved in the path of the crossfire to reduce the incoming danger to the escapees, "Forte! Aerial cover!"

Forte just struck down Nami and several other men when she got the order, "Oh, I have longed for this moment!" She flew up above the group and activated her One-Off Ability: using her wing units as a conduit, she compressed and cooled the air around her and generated multiple ice comets, "ABSOLUTE JUDGEMENT!" and rained them all down on the entire island. The icy explosions nearly froze whatever they touched, except the pilots, whose ISs were merely damaged.

"Hey! Take it easy!" Daryl screamed after a comet barely missed the group.

"I'M SORRY!" Forte lost her mind, "I'M AN ABSOLUTE HAM WITH THESE THINGS!"

Daryl groaned and looked around for Sokoto, "Has anyone seen the renegade?!"

Chifuyu realized that he hasn't shown himself since the Shadow Spell IS fight, "Oh no...is he down?!"

"I see him!" Charlotte said over the comms, "He's fallen!"

"Poop deck!" Yoon screamed, "Somebody get to him-AGH!" She was suddenly hit with a sniper bullet...that went through her barrier and pierced her shoulder. She was forced on her knees because she had never felt this much pain or fear.

"Did I just see that?!" Daryl saw the whole scene, as she thought that no projectile-centered weapon has ever been able to penetrate the IS's absolute defense, "Tell me I'm just seeing things!"

Xingjia momentarily stopped to help Yoon on her feet, "Hey! Can you stand?!" When she saw that Yoon was again incapacitated in her mind, she hoisted her on her back and zipped out of the island, "Everyone double time! They've perfected the Barrier Void technology!"

Sean and his crew had just crossed the only bridge to the No Name Key, bringing a slew of policewomen with them.

"Oh, it's just as bad as I thought it would be..." Sean groaned.

"What in the..." the captain of the police squad stared in horror. She thought she was tailing a suspected criminal, but instead of listening to him about the situation, she had to take it all in by herself, "You mean it's not fake news?!"

"Boss, everything's outta the van!" A crewman said, "We're ready to invade!"

"Invade? What?!" The captain asked.

"They can't come to us, so we'll go to them," Sean floored it and ran the van straight into the heat, surprisingly taking little damage as it made its way right in front of the group. Sean punched his window and shouted, "EVERYONE INSIDE NOW!"

"Huh?!" Chifuyu was astounded, "Why are you here? Wha-why are they here?!"

"No time to explain!" Sean said as the police squad parked beside him, "Just climb in!"

"Cadets, get those women inside!" The captain ordered, "Everyone else, shoot down anyone who's attacking this group!"

Everyone suddenly got into action. Charlotte dropped down to Sokoto's spot and manifested a giant shield to protect him while shooting down as many pilots as she could. The policewomen shot out as many armed men as possible, while rushing the women inside the vehicles. Forte kept her spot above the group with her aerial cover, but managed to slam her scythe down at some crucial targets. Xingjia and Yoon managed to keep the flow going with their long-range hits, while Chifuyu has kept her energy up taking out ground targets.

Aiko managed to fend off her group of men, when she saw Chifuyu boarding everyone to the vehicles, but the dust and noise from the ongoing battle clouded her judgment, and her vision. She shot at the vehicles, but Tatenashi was able to fend them off. Forte responded in like by charging directly towards the pilot that fired, but she hit someone else.

"Well, look at you," Forte taunted, at the wrong pilot, "Shooting at your own people!"

"Anyone associated with the renegade is not fit to walk the earth!" Aiko randomly spread her bullets, unintentionally shooting some brainwashed pilots and one of her comrades.

"AGH!" Maya yelped, "What the hell?!"

"Uh-wait, I didn't mean-OOF!" Aiko was quickly put down by a man hidden beneath the dirt, "Uh...what is on...me..." She was caught by a collar. The nanomachines had quickly invaded her brain, virtually destroying her personality and morals.

Tatenashi was struggling to maintain her shield against the heat when she picked up a horde of signals from around the island, "Oh shit..."

"What?!" Xingjia stammered as she took a bunch of fire to get Yoon inside a police cruiser, "What is it?!"

"We've been had..." Tatenashi muttered, before shooting her Gatling lance at every single incoming missile.

"There's too many of them!" Daryl cowered under the women's bodies, not noticing a bullet that made its way past the ISs and sock a victim's eye, "Hey! No! Somebody! We gotta-UGH-" She was then shot in the stomach.

"Sean!" A cameraman hid behind the van, "There's a swarm coming!"

"Turn every vehicle sideways!" Sean ordered, and every car was turned in front of the group.

Just in time too, because a missile barrage from more than 50 pilots slammed the island, flipping over the vehicles and knocking down everyone that tried to protect them.


End file.
